College Volleyball
Canisius College 3, Rider University 1
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match

BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Rider University volleyball team lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match at Canisius College on Saturday afternoon in a match seen on ESPN 3.

Canisius won 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 25-21.

“I thought we played well once we were down,” said head coach Christopher Feliciano who will see Rider as either the fourth or fifth seed in the conference playoffs next weekend.  “We allowed for there to be too much separation in the early parts of the sets and we played catch up the majority of the match.”

For Rider (16-15, 11-6 MAAC), sophomore setter Veronica Koval (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) had 26 assists and 10 digs.

Freshman Hailey Riede (Haworth/Northern Valley-Demarest) had 11 kills with junior Kaitlyn Griffin (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) adding nine kills and three blocks.

Rider defeated the Griffs in Lawrenceville on October 18 with the teams splitting the season series.

Rider swept the season series from Canisius during the 2014 regular season before the Golden Griffs knocked the Broncs out of the conference playoffs.  Canisius improved to 31-6 all-time against the Broncs.

Rider stays in Western New York to face Niagara University in a MAAC match on Sunday, the final match of the regular season.

Rider will travel to Siena College for the MAAC playoffs November 20-22, with the first round opponent to be determined on Sunday.  This is the first time since the 2004 season that the Broncs have qualified for the conference playoffs.

“To our credit, when we were clicking, we looked good,” Feliciano said.  “We have to approach each match with that killer instinct versus the mindset not to lose the match.”

-RU-