Women's College Volleyball
Lehigh University 3, Rider University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE--The Rider University volleyball team was swept in its 2011 home opener, losing to Lehigh University 3-0 on Wednesday night in Alumni Gymnasium.
"There was too much inconsistency tonight," said head coach Christopher Feliciano. "We picked and chose when we wanted to play and when we made a mistake, it would linger."
The Mountain Hawks prevailed 25-21, 25-18, 30-28 in a match that featured 30 ties and 17 lead changes.
For Rider (1-2), freshman Kayla Wong (Tustin, Calif./Arnold O. Beckman) had 13 kills and seven digs.
"Kayla did a nice job of finding the split but I attribute that to Bridget (Sheerin) and Ashlee (Amatulli)," said Feliciano. "When we pass well, that will allow our offense to have a ton of one on one situations."
Amatulli, a freshman from Menifee, California (Temecula Valley) led the Broncs with 22 assists with Sheerin, a sophomore from Oak Lawn, Illinois (Marist) adding 10 digs.
Lehigh out-hit the Broncs .241 to .154, held a 53-32 kill advantage and a 66-49 dig advantage.
"There were too many times when we were looking for some else to make the play instead of going out and seizing the moment," Feliciano added. "I would prefer we make errors by being aggressive instead of making mistakes by trying not to make a mistake."
Lehigh and Rider have now met 31 times in a series that began in 1980 with the Mountain Hawks winning 21. The teams last met in 2009 with Lehigh posting a 3-0 win in Bethlehem, Pa.
"We had moments where we played well," Feliciano said. "But there were also moments where we were just looking for the other team to make a mistake. We need to take it to our opponents and we didn't do that."
Rider travels to the Lafayette tournament September 2-3 to face Fairleigh Dickinson, the host Leopards and Saint Peter's.
"I'm thinking about what we are going to do tomorrow (Thursday) at practice," said Feliciano. "After tonight's performance, it is too early to start thinking about the weekend."
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