College Volleyball (Revised)
Saint Peter's College 3, Rider University 1
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match
JERSEY CITY?Despite 16 assists each from sophomores Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) and Elyse Grassmuck (San Antonio, Texas/La Vernia), the Rider University volleyball team lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match at Saint Peter's Saturday afternoon.
The Peahens won in four sets 25-17, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20.
“We played uninspired today,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “We looked and played slow the whole weekend.”
The Broncs also lost a MAAC match in four sets at Fairfield Friday night.
“Every team goes through lulls,” Ahlquist said. “It was a bad weekend but you can look at two ways. You get this out of your system now and push on. Remember, we've been on the road for the better part of four weeks. We're a little tired and now we get to play a few home matches and have a few days to get healthy.”
Also for Rider (7-5, 0-2 MAAC), junior Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) had 15 digs with senior Lacey Johnson (Centennial, Colo./Grandview) adding 12 digs.
Junior Brittany Hayes (Mitchellville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) had 10 kills for the Broncs.
In the opening set, Saint Peter's led 12-9 and went on a 4-0 run, winning by eight.
In the second set, which saw seven ties, Rider hit .417 and broke a 17-17 tie with a 4-0 run, three served by Piccolini to lead by four. A late 3-0 run clinched the set by six for the Broncs.
A 10-9 Saint Peter's lead in the third set became a six-point win for the Peahens after a 9-4 run midway through.
Rider led by one early in the fourth set before Saint Peter's went on a 5-0 run to lead 8-4. Late in the set, the Broncs cut the lead to three several times but could get no closer as the Peahens won by five to clinch the match.
Saint Peter's defeated Rider twice last season and have won 15 of the 27 matches in the series. The Broncs last defeated the Peahens during the 2004 season.
Rider hosts the first of five straight home matches on Tuesday against Lafayette at 7:30pm in Alumni Gym on the Lawrenceville, New Jersey campus.
“It's good that we have a non-conference match on Tuesday before hosting two conference matches next weekend,” Ahlquist added. “We'll get a chance to work some things out with the pressure of a MAAC match. We need to get home and get healthy.”
After starting the 2008 season with 11 matches out of 12 on the road, for the Broncs on Tuesday night, there will be no place like home.
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