College Volleyball
Princeton University 3, Rider University 0
PRINCETON?Despite 19 assists from freshman Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville), the Broncs were mauled by the Tigers in three straight games on Tuesday night in a non-conference match. “It was good to play against a high caliber team like Princeton,” said assistant coach Michelle Walsh. “They didn't make too many mistakes and took advantage of every error that we made.”
In the shortest road trip of the season for Rider (1-8), Princeton (2-2) defeated the Broncs 30-14, 30-20, 30-19.
“The match gives a marking point for where we need to be going into conference play this weekend,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “Princeton is the defending Ivy League champions and they showed why tonight. With that said, in spots, I think we played hard but we need to play better together.”
For the players today was the first time with classes in session and a match on the same day and according to Ahlquist, the team received an education from the Tigers.
“Everyone on the roster, top to bottom, better have picked up something from this match,” Ahlquist said. “We need to take what we learned from Princeton and the experiences of the day and move forward into the conference. It's not going to get any easier and we have to push through. We need to practice at a faster speed and need to make adjustments better on the fly.”
Also for Rider, freshman Katelyn Thompson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) had 10 kills.
Princeton hit for an attack percentage of .405 with 50 kills to Rider's 26.
“We saw a great exhibition from the Tigers on how to end points,” Ahlquist added. “As soon as we made a mistake, they pounced on it and I think we needed to see a team like that to reinforce how important it is to communicate and make adjustments.”
The Broncs take the annual trip to Buffalo this weekend, opening the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference schedule with matches against Canisius on Saturday and Niagara on Sunday.
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