College Volleyball
Rider University 3, New Jersey Institute of Technology 0

LAWRENCEVILLE—Behind 13 assists and 10 digs from senior Ashlee Amatulli (Menifee, Calif./Temecula Valley), the Rider University volleyball team defeated NJIT 3-0 on Wednesday evening in Alumni Gymnasium.

“We were up and down,” said head coach Christopher Feliciano.  “We know we need to play more consistent but it was ok, we'll take 14 wins at this point with one month to play.”

“We had some ups and downs but were able to fight back,” Amatulli said.  “We made our goal for the match which was to get the 14th win.”

Rider (14-11) won the non-conference match 25-20, 25-16, 25-23, a battle that saw 21 ties and 16 lead changes.

“It's no different than a conference match, our goal is to go out and get a win,” said Amatulli.  “We prepare the same way.”

Amatulli now has 2,568 career assists, third best all-time at Rider.

“We love the progress that we have made as a team since my freshman season,” Amatulli said.  “I'm proud of them.”

“The game used to be without rally scoring,” Feliciano said about Amatulli.  “To put it in perspective what Ashlee has done, she has put up those numbers with really half the opportunities playing in a '6-2' system.  Back then you got assists even if you didn't score, not how it is today.  Her play has been really remarkable and I hope people realize how valuable she is to us and also the importance of her being a mentor to the younger setters.”

Also for the Broncs, freshman Veronica Koval (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) had 14 assists and seven digs with senior Rachel Jensen (Buena Park, Calif./Troy) adding five blocks.

Freshman Jennifer Borio (Ridley Park, Pa./Padua Academy) also had five blocks for Rider.

Senior Jaclyn Webber (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon) led the team with 17 digs and added seven kills and two blocks.

Freshman Emma Aldaya (Prospect Park, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) had 14 digs, two assists and two service aces for the Broncs with sophomore Kaitlyn Griffin (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) adding five service aces, four kills and a block.

The Broncs improved to 7-1 at home this season.

Rider and NJIT met last season at the St. Francis Brooklyn Terrier Invitational when the Broncs prevailed 3-0, enroute to winning the tournament title and Rider is now 2-0 all-time against the Highlanders.

Rider hosts Canisius College on Saturday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match, beginning at 1pm.

“Both teams will have a specific game plan,” Feliciano said about the match on Saturday.  “It took a lot of hard work and discipline to win up there (in Buffalo, New York) in September.  We are just excited to play significant matches in November.  The team has worked tremendously hard to put ourselves in that position.”

-RU-