STAFF WRITER: Nina Medeiros

FRANKLIN, MA. - February 4, 2025 - The Dean College men's volleyball team fell to Rivier University, (3-0) in the team's first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match of the season. Rivier won by scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-21.

Dean (1-6, 0-1 GNAC) is off until next Tuesday, Feb. 11, when the Bulldogs host Fisher College. Rivier (4-3, 1-0 GNAC) plays at home this Friday for another GNAC matchup against Wentworth.

Dean was led by first-year Ayden Rogers (Tewksbury, Mass.) hitting 0.467 and chipping in 7 kills. Junior Hunter Armitage (Westerly, R.I) had 19 assists on the night.
Rivier was led by Sophomore Aidan Combs (Weare, N.H.) hitting 0.636 with 9 kills and first-year Cade Barron (Tewksbury, Mass.) hitting .500 and tallying 27 assists. Sophomore Racine Camara (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected 7 digs.
The teams traded points to start the opening set. Rivier would use a short run to eventually push the gap between the two teams to lead 13-9. The Bulldogs and Raiders would continue to go back and forth, eventually leading to a Bulldogs run of 4-1 run to cut the Raiders' lead to 17-14. The Raiders continued to capitalize on their runs to win the set 25-18.
The Raiders would come out strong to start the second set, going on a 5-1 run to bring the score to 13-6. Facing this, the Bulldogs responded with a 4-3 run bringing the score to 17-11. It would not be enough for the Bulldogs in the end, with the Raiders winning the set 25-18.
The Bulldogs would not let the last two sets slow them down, scoring four points in a row to start the set with a score of 4-3. The Raiders would then trade points with the Bulldogs, taking a lead of 10-7. The Bulldogs would rally back to tie up the game 12-12. The two would continue to trade points. It wasn't until the Bulldogs would pull away and take their largest lead of the match at 19-16. The Raiders would respond and tie up the set at 21-21. In the end, the Raiders would continue their run to win the set 25-21 and the match 3-0.