College Volleyball
Siena College 3, Rider University 2
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y.?Despite holding a two sets to one lead, the Rider University volleyball team lost its fourth match in a row and eighth out of the last nine, falling to Siena (14-11, 11-2 MAAC) in five sets Saturday afternoon. “It was a fantastic match,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “Except for the final result, it was a fun match to coach and it was a fun match for the players to play. We played the best that we could and got beat by only a couple of points. I was very proud of our effort. We played hard.”
The Saints defeated the Broncs 22-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-22, 15-12 in a match that featured 32 ties and 13 lead changes.
For Rider (9-14, 2-11 MAAC), sophomore setter Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) had 51 assists and now needs only 13 to reach 1,000 in her career.
Junior Alex Chapla (Aliquippa, Pa./Center Area) had 13 kills and 10 blocks with sophomore Kristy Love (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) also adding 10 blocks.
“Alex and Kristy put up a wall out there,” said Ahlquist. “Amanda ran a great offense as well. It was a solid team effort by everyone.”
Junior Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) led the Broncs with 19 digs and sophomore Katelyn Thompson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) led four Broncs in double figures with 16 kills.
Senior Lacey Johnson (Centennial, Colo./Grandview) had a ?double-double' with 16 digs and 15 kills.
“Our volleyball I.Q. is getting better,” Ahlquist added. “We are making better decisions and we are making them faster.”
In the opening set, Rider led 18-15 before Siena tied it with a 3-0 run. The Broncs countered with a 3-0 run to lead 21-18 before the Saints returned the favor with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 21. Another Rider 3-0 run gave the Broncs a now familiar three-point lead and Rider won the set 25-22. The set was tied 12 times with the teams exchanging the lead three times.
Johnson had six kills in the set and hit .455 as Rider hit .314 as a team.
The second set was all Siena as the Saints blew out to a 15-6 lead and were never threatened in a 25-14 win, tying the match at one.
Tied at 14 in the third set, Rider went on a 7-1 run and finished out the set, winning 25-18.
Trailing 17-14 in the fourth set, Rider rallied with a 6-2 run to take a 20-19 lead. Siena countered with a 6-2 run of their own to win the set. Rider saved two set points before the Saints ended the set.
Trailing 9-6 in the fifth set, Rider rallied to take an 11-10 lead, the third and final lead change of the set, before a 5-1 run by the Saints ended the set and clinched the match. The set had seven ties overall.
Siena, which defeated the Broncs 3-0 on October 5, has won 14 of the 17 matches in the series against Rider with the last Bronc win in 2004. “We made a huge improvement from the last time we played Siena,” Ahlquist added. “We just needed a few more points and a few more calls to go our way.”
Any mathmatical hopes of qualifying for the four-team MAAC tournament at Siena November 23-24 were dashed with the loss. The win allowed the Saints to remain in a first place tie in the MAAC standings with Fairfield at 11-2.
Rider travels to Manhattan for a MAAC match at 2:00pm on Sunday.
“If we play like we did today, I'm very excited to see the result," said Ahlquist. "I would love to play them right now.”
-RU-
