The Albertus Magnus men's volleyball team rallied in the final set of the night but fell to No. 10 Rivier 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 27-25) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play on Friday evening.
With the loss, the Falcons move to 10-3 on the year and 0-3 in GNAC action. Rivier improves to 12-6 with the victory as the Raiders move to a perfect 6-0 in the GNAC standings. Tonight marked the first shutout loss for the Falcons as well.
Rivier used 13 kills in 26 attempts in the first set to defeat the Falcons 25-18 in the opener. Led by four kills from Chris Markuson, the Raiders held the Falcons to just six kills in 22 attempts as the Falcons had six hitting miscues in the first set.
The second set saw the Falcons fall 25-16 as they recorded just seven kills and 12 hitting errors.
The final set was a battle as Rivier jumped out to an 11-6 lead but the Falcons climbed to within one at 13-14 on a block assist from Glenn Johnson (Newington, Conn.) and Brendan Charamut (Southington, Conn.). After tying the set at 16 apiece, Rivier scored three unanswered points to take a 19-16 lead.
Rivier was able to extend its advantage to 22-17 before Albertus chipped away at the Raiders' lead. The Falcons were able to battle back and tie the game at 23, 24 and 25 before Rivier was able to secure the two-point set victory and the match. An attacking error by Rivier tied the contest at 25 before a Falcon hitting error and a kill by Rivier's Markuson clinched the win.
Carlos Torres (Adjuntas, Puerto Rico) dished out 17 assists for the Falcons and recorded eight digs, while Johnson led all Falcons with eight kills in 18 attempts. Chase Brinton (Bethany, Conn.) added eight digs as well for the Falcons, while Charamut registered six kills.
Markuson recorded eight kills, a team-best for Rivier, while Steve Visentin tallied 30 assists on the night. Markuson added a team-best six digs as well.
The Falcons are back in action on Monday night as they travel to Regis College (Mass.) for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference match-up with the Pride.
