College Volleyball
Niagara University 3, Rider University 2
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y.--College. All about learning. Everything you do has a lesson attached. And teams that are striving to become competitive have to go through the learning process. The Broncs jumped out to a two games to none lead only to see the Purple Eagles storm back and defeat Rider 3-2 on Sunday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match. “Overall it was a good match between two evenly matched teams,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “Obviously you would have liked to come out on top however we drastically improved from Saturday against Canisius to today's effort against Niagara so we are pleased with the progress that we made.”
Niagara (3-8, 1-1 MAAC) won by scores of 20-30, 26-30, 30-19, 30-28, 15-13.
“We made some changes at the end of the Canisius match yesterday and kept them for the match today,” said Ahlquist. “Basically, we served better, passed better and didn't make as many unforced errors. We came out with a high amount of energy and we were aggressive.”
For Rider (1-10, 0-2 MAAC), sophomore Brittany Hayes (Mitchelleville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) had 14 kills and four blocks with junior Lacey Johnson (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) adding 15 digs and two blocks.
“We didn't come out ready to play yesterday,” said Hayes in reference to the Canisius match won by the Golden Griffs 3-0. “Today we came out much better and more focused and played our game today. We played strong but weren't able to finish. It's frustrating that we weren't able to finish because we played well enough to win the match.”
Freshman Katelyn Thompson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) had 16 kills with fellow rookie Elyse Grassmuck (Seguin, Texas/La Vernia) adding 13 digs and two blocks.
Leading 10-8 in the opening game, Rider went on a 5-0 run, keyed by two kills from Lindsay Brant to lead 15-8. Brant finished with nine kills. Niagara got to within 15-11 before the Broncs pulled away for the 30-20 win.
In the second game, Rider kept up the momentum jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Niagara rallied to tie the game at 13 before the Broncs used a 7-1 run to lead 20-14 and put the game away by a score of 30-26.
Game three started out as a close battle with six ties before Niagara pulled away. With the score tied at nine, the Purple Eagles used a 12-1 run to open up a 21-10 lead enroute to a 30-19 win.
Game four again saw a close battle with eight ties. With the score tied at 12, Rider went on a 6-1 run to lead 18-13. Niagara battled back to tie the match at 24 and on the strength of an 8-0 run eventually led 28-24 before the team traded points in the Purple Eagle 30-28 win.
“Niagara's upperclassmen really stepped up their play in the third and fourth games and got them back into the match,” said Ahlquist. “It wasn't so much us making errors more so than Niagara hitting better shots.”
Game five saw six ties before Niagara used a late 4-0 run to seal the win 15-13 and the overall match 3-2.
“We improved as the weekend went on,” Ahlquist added. “It was important for the freshmen to experience what the MAAC games are all about and it reinforces that you have to be prepared to play every point of every game. Even if we would have won the match, maintaining our intensity and aggressiveness are the lessons that we need to take out of the match today and the weekend overall.”
Also for Rider, sophomore Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) compiled 10 digs with freshman Kristy Love (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) adding six blocks.
“We know what we have to do to get better,” Hayes added. “Coming into the upcoming home match, we need to take what we learned this past weekend and get stronger for the rest of the conference schedule.”
The Broncs host Manhattan on September 22 in the 2007 home opener. The MAAC match in Alumni Gym starts at 2:00pm.
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