College Volleyball - Sacred Heart Invitational
Rider University 3, University of Hartford 0
FAIRFIELD, Conn.?Forgive the Rider University volleyball team if they feel everyone else is living in the past. Two wins out of 28 matches last year; they already have three wins (and a .600 winning percentage) this season. No wins against the University of Hartford in the 20 years that the teams have played; took care of that little bit of history as well.
The Broncs won in straight sets over Hartford 25-16, 25-14, 25-17 in the first round of the Sacred Heart Invitational Friday afternoon.
“We all realize it's only three wins and we can't settle but we definitely look at only winning twice last season as incentive to do well this year,” said sophomore Elyse Grassmuck (San Antonio, Texas/La Vernia) who had 16 assists and two of Rider's four service aces. “We are definitely using last year as a little push and motivation.”
Times are changing and the team hopes that the win will allow the Broncs to move forward and out of the shadow of last season's struggles.
“The match overall was great and we came together well,” Grassmuck added. “That is the definition of team work, what we did today.”
“We got into a grove and played very well,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “We communicated and played as a team. We served tough, played defense and served effectively. We took Hartford out of its offense by blocking and playing strong at the net.”
Junior Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) had a team-high 17 digs for Rider and now has 959 digs in her career. Senior Lindsay Brant (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) added 10 kills with fellow senior Lacey Johnson (Centennial, Colo./Grandview) compiling 10 digs.
“We started a little slow but then refocused,” said Brant. “We played smart, clean and very well. We knew what we had to do to come out with the win and executed the game plan on the court.”
In the first set, the Broncs trailed 5-1 before an 11-2 run gave Rider the lead for good enroute to a nine point win.
Rider started the second set on a 3-0 run and led wire to wire, cruising to an 11 point win.
A 9-1 run in the third set turned a three-point margin into an 11 point lead for the Broncs, clinching the match with the eight point win.
Rider (3-2) had a season-high nine blocks, led by junior Brittany Hayes (Mitchellville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) with four. Junior Alex Chapla (Aliquippa, Pa./Center Area) and sophomores Kristy Love (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) and Katelyn Thompson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) each had three blocks in the match.
“Our defense blocked the ball very well,” Brant added. “We've been working hard on our blocking during the preseason and last spring and we've improved greatly in that area.”
“Our defense sparked the offense,” Ahlquist added. “You want to be able to maintain your serve in the rally scoring game and if you are strong defensively, you serve more and if you are effective serving, you keep the ball, build momentum and score more points. You side out more easily and that leads to a higher hitting percentage."
“The blocking was amazing,” said Grassmuck. “We spoke the last couple of days about how we needed to pick up our effort in our blocking and we did that. As a setter, it was very comforting that we blocked so well and I was able to focus on what I needed to do.”
Rider faces Holy Cross on Saturday at 9:00am in the final round of the tournament.
“I'm exciting about the next match,” Brant said. “We don't know a lot about them [Holy Cross] but we are going to scout the next match and go from there. The nine in the morning match is a little easier to handle coming off a win. We are going to get a good night of sleep and focus on starting fast Saturday morning.”
Holy Cross (0-2) lost to the host Pioneers 25-15, 25-16, 25-14 on Friday night.
The win today gives Brant and her teammates a chance to dream about the future without worrying about the past.
-RU-
