College Volleyball
Marist College 3, Rider University 2
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match
LAWRENCEVILLE?Despite jumping out to a two games to one lead, the Broncs lost to Marist on Sunday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match. “We out-dug Marist, had a higher hitting percentage and we just didn't win the match,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “It was a battle back and forth.”
Marist (8-14, 4-6 MAAC) won the match 30-21, 19-30, 20-30, 30-24, 15-13.
For Rider (1-18, 0-10 MAAC), junior Lacey Johnson (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) posted a ?double-double' with 21 kills and 20 digs. Johnson also picked up career dig number 1,000 in the second game.
“Lacey has been playing great,” said Ahlquist. “She is coming into her own both on the offensive side and the defensive side. She is having fun playing and that is helping her teammates to play better. Obviously hitting the 1,000 dig plateau in the middle of her junior season speaks volumes about how good of a player that Lacey has been and how good she can still be. She is going to put up some great numbers before her career is done.”
“I knew I was close to 1,000 so I was determined to get it this match,” said Johnson who now has 1,015 digs in her career. “It was exciting but it is more of something that I'll think about when the season is over. I just tried to be aggressive today and in the last few matches and go after every ball that I could.”
“We knew we came out flat in game one,” said Ahlquist. “The team got mad and that allowed them to play better the rest of the match. They knew that they were better than they played in the opening game and used that to rally.”
Also for the Broncs, freshman Katelyn Thompson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) had 12 kills and 10 digs with sophomore Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) adding 23 digs and freshman Kristy Love (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) compiling 13 kills.
“Katelyn had a nice match after sitting out yesterday at Loyola due to injury,” Ahlquist said. “We had her play front row and she did a nice job. She gave us an inspired performance off the bench.”
“It was an evenly fought match,” said Johnson. “We didn't play well in the first game and came out aggressively for the second game and we were able to carry that effort through the rest of the match. It's a little frustrating because we didn't win but we are staying positive and by doing that we know the wins will come. We're so close, we just have to finish stronger.”
Three of the last four matches have gone five games for Rider and the Broncs have dropped 12 straight overall.
Rider travels to MAAC rival Siena on Friday for a 6:00pm match. “It's been that type of year,” Ahlquist added. “We are going to keep battling and not let ourselves get frustrated. They are working hard and will continue to do so. We will keep pushing hard.”
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