College Volleyball – MAAC Championship Consolations
#7 Canisius College 3, #5 Rider University 1

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—One of the most successful seasons for the Rider University volleyball team came to a premature end as the Broncs were upset in the consolation round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships on Friday afternoon in Florida.

“We didn't finish in crucial spots,” said head coach Christopher Feliciano.  “And our serve receive wasn't what it normally is.”

Rider (17-17) lost 3-1 to seventh seed Canisius College, falling by scores of 24-26, 26-24, 17-25, 20-25.

Playing in her final match, senior setter Ashlee Amatulli (Menifee, Calif./Temecula Valley) had 22 assists and four digs, graduating third on Rider's all-time assist list with 2,771.

Also for the Broncs, senior Jaclyn Webber (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon) had 10 digs and nine kills with fellow senior Kayla Wong (Tustin, Calif./Arnold O. Beckman) adding nine kills and nine digs.

Freshman Emma Aldaya (Prospect Park, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) finished a stellar rookie campaign for Rider compiling a match-high 18 digs.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Griffin (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory), the MAAC Rookie of the Year last season, had nine kills and hit .375 while adding a match-high five service aces.

Canisius out-attacked Rider .256 to .189 and the Golden Griffins enjoyed a 62-44 kill advantage.

The match had 29 ties and 18 lead changes, including 13 ties and 11 lead changes in the opening set, won by Canisius 26-24.

Rider swept the regular season series from Canisius, winning 3-0 in Buffalo on September 28 and 3-1 in Lawrenceville on November 1.  Canisius had defeated Rider 18 times in a row prior to this season.

“Canisius didn't make as many errors as they did the first two times we played them,” Feliciano said.  “They were in system a lot more and we didn't really challenge them.  They played their hearts out to win the match.  Hats off to Canisius, it was a well deserved victory for their program.”

Rider dropped into the consolation round of the double-elimination tournament by losing in the quarterfinals on Thursday to fourth seed Fairfield 3-0.

At one point, Rider was 16-11 this year and riding a four-match winning streak before stumbling at the end, losing six of the final seven matches of the season to finish at the .500 mark.

“I think we did some great things this season,” Feliciano said.  “Finishing in fifth place puts us in a great spot heading into 2015.  We need to make some adjustments to our scheduling to allow more recuperation time and better flow to the season.  We peaked a little too early and couldn't sustain the level of play, physically and emotionally.  We have some problems but they are good problems to have and problems that successful programs face.  Those are positive issues that we need to work through.”

Rider returns 11 letterwinners from a squad that compiled the most program wins since 1994 and the Broncs finished fifth in the MAAC with a record of 10-8.

-RU-