College Volleyball
Lafayette Invitational
Lafayette College 3, Rider University 0
Rider University 3, Saint Peter's College 1
EASTON, Pa.--The Rider University volleyball team split two matches on Saturday at the Lafayette Invitational.
In the second match of the day, Rider (2-4) defeated Saint Peter's College 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-19) after losing to the host Leopards 25-22, 28-26, 25-20 Saturday morning.
"Consistency comes with being disciplined and we did that against Saint Peter's," said head coach Christopher Feliciano. "Whenever you play a team in your conference, whether it is in a non-conference setting or MAAC play, you want to win. These are teams that you are competing against to try to earn one of four playoff spots so anytime you can beat one of them, it is important, especially with a young team. We need to see and feel that we can beat a conference opponent."
Trailing 20-17 in the first set, Saint Peter's rallied with a 7-2 run and won the opener 25-23. Leading 10-8 in the second set, Rider made sure not to repeat the first set result by going on a 7-2 run to lead 17-11 in the nine-point win.
"We made a lot of mental mistakes in the first set," Feliciano said. "We had a quick conversation about taking ownership of our play and what it would take to win the match and push over the hump. They were 'women of their word' and put forth the effort to get the job done."
Set three saw the Broncs run out to a 5-0 lead and after the Peahens made the score 10-6, Rider won nine of the next 13 points to put the set away by seven.
"It was nice to see the team do the things that we've been working on and talking about," Feliciano said. "With new players and a new coaching staff as well, there is a learning curve of trusting each other, not only as teammates but the players trusting that the staff is leading them the right way and telling them the things they need to do to be successful."
Rider led wire to wire in the fourth set, opening up an 11-5 lead with the Peahens never threatening in the six point win to clinch the match.
For the Broncs against the Peahens, sophomore Bridget Sheerin (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist) had a 'double-double' of 12 digs and 10 kills with sophomore Megan Knott (West Caldwell/James Caldwell) adding a match-high 16 kills while hitting .304. Knott had 11 kills and three digs in the opener against the Leopards, drawing praise from her head coach.
"Megan played a brilliant match, her best match to date in a Rider uniform," Feliciano said.
Freshman Ashlee Amatulli (Menifee, Calif./Temecula Valley) had a solid day, compiling 44 assists and nine digs in the second match after logging 31 assists, five digs, four blocks, four kills and three service aces, hitting .375 against Lafayette in the opener.
"Ashlee is our quarterback on the floor," Feliciano said. "She does what is expected and also does a lot of little things that make our team better. You don't expect her to be getting kills and blocks as a setter and that just shows how complete of a player that she is. She does a phenomenal job every match."
Also drawing praise from Feliciano was freshman Rachel Jensen (Buena Park, Calif./Troy) who had eight kills and six digs against Saint Peter's, accounting for 11 points.
"Rachel played an outstanding match, both offensively and defensively," Feliciano added. "She just went out and played and her abilities took over. We have high expectations for her and she rose to them today."
Also for the Broncs against the Peahens, freshman Shelbie Stannard (Alvin, Texas/Alvin) had 16 digs, junior co-captain Brittany Gajewski (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central Regional) had 15 digs and freshman Kayla Wong (Tustin, Calif./Arnold O. Beckman) had 14 kills.
Rider lost at Saint Peter's 3-0 on October 10, 2010 before defeating the Peahens in Alumni Gym 3-0 on November 6, 2010 and in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoffs on November 19, 2010 3-1. The Broncs have won 15 of the 35 matches in the all-time series against Saint Peter's.
Rider and Lafayette last met on September 12, 2009 when the Leopards defeated the Broncs 3-0. Rider leads the all-time series against Lafayette 22-13 and this is only the fourth time since 1996 that Lafayette has defeated Rider. The Broncs defeated the Leopards 3-1 at the LaSalle Invitational in 2008 with the Leopards winning 3-2 in 2005 in Easton. Rider posted a 3-1 win during the 2004 season in Lawrenceville and defeated Lafayette twice during the 2002 season 3-1 and 3-0 at Alumni Gym on the Rider campus.
"Our inexperience as a team didn't allow us to push forward," said Feliciano about the Lafayette match. "We are taking steps and it is a process. What I'm happy to see is that the team isn't satisfied by that. They want to win now and they aren't happy just to be taking steps."
Rider travels to Philadelphia to face the Temple Owls Tuesday.
"Every player is not happy when we are losing," Feliciano added. "We are working hard to change the way things have been done. Our goal is to win matches and that is what we are working toward. The players say they should be playing better and they are working hard to do that. You want to hear that from your team and that is a very positive thing as we head into our future matches."
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