FAIRFIELD, CT – Sophomore outside hitter Meredith Pellegrino (Norwalk, CT/Brien McMahon) recorded a match-high 15 kills to lead the visiting Rider University women's volleyball team past Fairfield, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action at George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall.

The Broncs (10-9, 6-5 MAAC) won their second straight match in three games, while the Stags (9-12, 8-4 MAAC) have now dropped four of their last five contests. Rider won by scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-19 to avenge a five-game setback to Fairfield in Lawrenceville earlier this season.  

Leading the charge offensively for Rider was Pellegrino. It marked the fourth conference match this fall in which Pellegrino recorded 10 or more kills. Other Broncs making an impact offensively were senior Hailey Riede (Haworth, NJ/Northern Valley-Demarest) and junior Alexa Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) with seven kills apiece.

In the middle, freshman setter Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) continued her strong first collegiate season with 30 assists and eight digs.

At the net, freshman Caprice Clarke (Toronto, Canada/Blyth Academy (Yorkville)) had a career-high five block assists, while Riede had four.

On the defensive end, junior libero Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) had another solid match for the Broncs with 14 digs. Sophomore Danielle Blanco (El Paso, TX/Franklin) contributed eight digs on the backline for the Broncs, while classmate Brynn Sherbert (Temecula, CA/Great Oak) had seven of her own.   

NOTES & QUOTES
"It was a great team win today. Everyone was engaged from the beginning of the match until the end. We played a very balanced match against a very good team in one of the harder gyms to play within the league." – Rider Head Coach Chris Feliciano

- Rider had 37 kills, 33 assists, seven service aces, seven total blocks and 47 digs.
- The Broncs took advantage of 25 Fairfield attack errors, four service errors and two Stag ball-handling errors.
- Rider snapped a six-match losing streak against Fairfield with the victory.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Runyon had 10 or more digs for the 17th straight match.   
- In two matches against Fairfield this season, Pellegrino has amassed 33 kills in eight sets.
- Clarke also added a career-high five kills for the Broncs.
- Perry Williams added three kills and two block assists for Rider.

UP NEXT
Rider concludes a busy weekend of MAAC action with a road clash against Quinnipiac on Sunday, October 21, that is slated to begin at 1:00 pm. The Broncs are looking to complete the regular-season sweep of the Bobcats after topping QU, 3-0, at home earlier this autumn.