College Volleyball
Fairleigh Dickinson University 3, Rider University 2
HACKENSACK--Despite 34 assists from freshman Ashlee Amatulli (Menifee, Calif./Temecula Valley) and 27 digs from freshman Shelbie Stannard (Alvin, Texas/Alvin) the Rider University volleyball team lost a five-set heartbreaker at Fairleigh Dickinson University Wednesday night.
"Those two (Amatulli and Stannard) are coming along and growing as collegiate players," said head coach Christopher Feliciano. "They are really developing nicely. Shelbie was able to read the block and be where she needed to be and did a nice job defensively. And Ashlee, if our passing would have been a little better, she would have had a lot more than the 34 assists that she did. She did a nice job getting the ball to her teammates to execute the kills."
The Knights improved to 9-3 and prevailed 25-20, 17-25, 25-15, 15-25, 15-8 in a match that despite the five sets, featured only nine ties and four lead changes.
"The differences between the sets was confidence," said Feliciano. "In the sets we won, we came out swinging and moving well and for that the team should be proud. When we controlled play, we were successful."
Also for the Broncs, freshman Jaclyn Webber (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon) had 17 kills, freshman Kayla Wong (Tustin, Calif./Arnold O. Beckman) compiled 12 kills and junior co-captain Stephanie Nagy (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) had 10 kills and three block assists. Webber compiled 21 of Rider's 63 offensive points in the match and had three of the eight service aces for the Broncs while adding eight digs and two block assists.
"An outside hitter is not a glamorous position," Feliciano said. "Jaclyn did a nice job of keeping some bad balls alive and forced FDU to make some mistakes instead of us making an unforced error. She is still growing as a player."
Twice, Rider (3-11) was down a set and came back to tie the match in the almost two hour marathon.
"Seeing that growth is what I'm most proud of," Feliciano said about having the Broncs battle back twice. "That is the difference in being competitive and just giving up in a match and over the past few matches, we've been down but we've battled and that's important for this team to experience. With all of that said, I still want to win so I'm disappointed that we didn't accomplish that. At the end of the day, the bottom line is you want to win. You want the hard work to pay off in victories. I'm excited because our future is bright."
FDU held a .217 to .170 attack advantage and a nine to seven edge in blocks.
Former Northeast Conference rivals, Rider and FDU last met on October 24, 2007 with the Broncs winning 3-2. Rider has won 22 of the 38 matches all-time against the Knights in a series that started in 1977.
The Broncs resume conference play with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match at Saint Peter's on Saturday (2pm) with Rider traveling to New York to face Manhattan in a MAAC match on Sunday at 2pm.
Rider returns home to face La Salle at 7pm on September 28 in Alumni Gymnasium.
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