NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's volleyball team dropped a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference games on Saturday as they lost to Rivier University, 3-0, and Albertus Magnus College, 3-0.

In the opening round, the Cadets (4-12, 0-7 GNAC) struggled to find their rhythm in the first game against Rivier (20-5, 6-0 GNAC), hitting just .179 in the first set as the Raiders bombard the court with .458 hitting percentage for the 25-14 win. Rivier faltered on the attack in the second set, hitting just .138 but Cadets' miscues of attack and service errors begun to pile up,  as the Raiders took the second set, 25-16 before closing out the contest with 12 kills, three service aces and just two errors for a .423 hitting percentage and the 25-11 decision for the sweep.

Senior Tara Lyons (Pocasset, Mass.) recorded a team-high 10 kills, while sophomore setter Katie Crane (Avon, N.Y.) collected 18 assists with a service ace. Junior Alex Ruediger (Sandy Lake, Pa.) would come up with 11 digs as freshmen Emily Oliver (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) and Emily Jordan (Dalton, Mass.) were credited with a block assist.

After a break in between sets that saw Rivier sweep Albertus Magnus, 3-0, by scores of 25-9, 25-16, 26-24, the Cadets went back to work, looking for their first conference win of the season.

In the nightcap against Albertus Magnus (4-13, 1-6 GNAC), both teams struggled to find any attacking power in the contest that saw 44 attack errors, 17 service errors, 13 receiving errors and four block errors. Norwich started with a slight edge in the lead before giving up errors of their own midway through the first set before the Falcons took over and closed out the set with a 25-23 decision.

Norwich looked to equalize the game in the second set but the miscues continued to falter the Cadets' efforts as the Falcons jumped ahead for second point of the game, 25-18. Despite a poor hitting of just .082 percent in the game, Albertus Magnus managed to complete the sweep with a 25-17 victory in the third set as the Falcons picked up their first conference win of the year.

Lyons and Oliver would put up seven kills each with Crane adding 17 assists to the day. Oliver, Ruediger, and senior Andrea Moreno (Newark, Del.) tallied 18, 13, and 11 digs, respectively.

The Cadets are back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 21 as they host Mount Holyoke in a 7:00 p.m. non-conference matchup.