College Volleyball
Marist College 3, Rider University 1
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match
LAWRENCEVILLE?Despite winning the opening set and having a set point in the second set, the Rider University volleyball team lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match to Marist on senior day in Alumni Gym on Sunday. “I thought all of the seniors played extremely well,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “I thought Lacey, Lindsay and Meghan all had solid days.”
The Red Foxes won in four sets, 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-22, sending Rider to its seventh loss in a row. The match featured 28 ties and 11 lead changes with each team hitting .217 on the day.
For the Broncs, senior Lacey Johnson (Centennial, Colo./Grandview) had a ?double-double' with 15 kills and 14 digs with senior Lindsay Brant (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) also recording a ?double-double' (18 digs and 12 kills). Senior Meghan Johnston (Southampton, Pa./Pennsbury) had a career-high four digs.
“We had some service errors and some mental breakdowns at key points,” Ahlquist added. “That's what hurt us today. Otherwise it was a very good match.”
Also for Rider, sophomore Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) had 49 assists and seven digs with junior Alex Chapla (Aliquippa, Pa./Center Area) adding 16 kills.
Junior Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) had a team-high 33 digs for the Broncs.
“Amy has been very steady for us the last few matches,” Ahlquist said. “She had provided some steady defense.”
This is the second time this season that Marist (14-15, 9-7 MAAC) has defeated Rider (9-17, 2-14 MAAC). The Red Foxes earned a 3-0 win on October 11 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Rider has won 12 of the 23 matches all-time against the Red Foxes however Marist has won the last five dating back to the 2006 season. The Red Foxes defeated the Broncs 3-0 and 3-2 in 2007.
Rider jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first set and withstood a Red Fox rally that tied the set at 21. Rider ended the set on a 4-1 run, off a Brant kill and block by junior Brittany Hayes (Mitchellville, Md./Elizabeth Seton). Hayes had three blocks in the match.
The second set saw 12 ties and seven lead changes. Rider led 24-22 and was serving for the set before Marist staved off two set points, going on a 4-0 run to win the set by two.
Training 15-13 in the third set, Marist went on a 9-2 run, opening up a five point lead and ended the set on a 3-0 run.
Rider led 15-14 in the fourth set before the Red Foxes went on a 5-0 run. Rider got to within two points at 24-22 before Marist clinched the match with a block.
“We drastically improved over where we were when we faced Marist the first time,” Ahlquist said. “It is a testament to the hard work of the team that we made that improvement.”
Rider travels to Iona for a MAAC match on November 15 before completing the 2008 season with a home MAAC match against Loyola on November 16.
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