College Volleyball
Lehigh/Lafayette Cross Town Tournament
Providence College 3, Rider University 1
BETHLEHEM, Pa.-The calendar says September but for the Rider University volleyball team, love was in the air, as in junior Kristy Love.
Love (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) returned to action after missing the last week due to injury and had nine kills and three digs as the Broncs lost in four sets against Providence (4-5) on the opening day of the Lehigh/Lafayette Cross Town Tournament Friday afternoon.
The Friars defeated Rider (2-7) 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 25-15.
"It was really nice having Kristy back," said head coach Emily Ahlquist. "She played inspired and was ready to go."
Also for the Broncs, junior Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) added 20 assists.
Providence opened the first set winning four of the first five points before Rider rallied with an 8-4 run to take a 9-8 lead. Trailing 10-9, the Friars responded with a 12-5 run, opening up a six-point lead and Providence withstood a late Bronc rally to win by three.
In the second set, Rider trailed 5-1 before winning 10 of the next 13 points to take an 11-8 lead off two kills by Love. Two attack errors and a service error by the Friars gave the Broncs a four-point win, tying the match.
"The second set was fantastic," Ahlquist said of the four-point win that tied the match at one set each. "We took control of the set. We controlled the speed and had solid ball control and played smart. Those are the things we didn't do particularly well in the third and fourth sets."
Tied at five in the third set, the Friars scored seven of the next 10 points to take a 12-8 lead. Eight of the next 12 points went Providence's way with the Friars winning the set by seven.
Providence led 9-7 in the fourth set and went on a 10-3 run, opening up a nine-point lead, eventually clinching the match with a 10-point win.
Rider falls to 3-1 all-time against the Friars in a series that began during the 2003 season.
"Providence is a pretty good team," Ahlquist added. "They are big and are a very good serving team."
The Broncs will face the host Mountain Hawks at 10:00am on Saturday, and will travel cross town to Lafayette in Easton, Pa., to face the Leopards at 4:00pm.
"Playing both Lehigh and Lafayette on Saturday is going to be a challenge," said Ahlquist. "We have to get used to traveling and playing the same day and competing in this tournament gives us the opportunity to set up the itinerary like the conference weekends."
-RU-
