LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Sophomore Meredith Pellegrino (Norwalk, CT/Brien McMahon) recorded 14 kills and an impressive .481 hitting percentage to lead the Rider University volleyball team past visiting Saint Peter's, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside Alumni Gymnasium. The Broncs defeated the Peacocks by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-17.

Rider (8-7, 8-4 MAAC) ended a two-match conference losing streak with the victory, while the Peacocks (5-17, 2-6 MAAC)saw their two-match winning streak come to an end. The triumph was the 17th straight for the Broncs versus hOURglass rival SPU.

It was an historic afternoon for senior Hailey Riede (Haworth, NJ/Northern Valley-Demarest) as she recorded 10 kills. She is now third in program history with 1,128 kills. On the day, she had a .333 attack percentage to go along with two block assists and a dig.

Pellegrino had arguably her strongest match of the autumn with the 14 kills and zero attack errors. She racked up 10 or more kills in a match for the third time this season in MAAC play, while setting a new career-best with her attack percentage.  

In the middle, freshman Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) registered another double-double thanks to a 41-assist, 10-dig performance.  

On the defensive end, junior libero Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) continued her strong play with 17 digs. Sher had 10 or more digs for the ninth time in 2018. Also on the backend, sophomore Brynn Sherbert (Temecula, CA/Great Oak) chipped in seven digs and freshman Ellen Paddock (Warsaw, NY/Warsaw) had a career-high six digs.  

NOTES & QUOTES
"One of the big things in our gym is focusing on player development. We bring student-athletes in that will have a role with our team and Meredith coming along nicely. It's rewarding to see that type of effort and performance. Our ball control and first touch did a great job today and took pressure of Anilee Sher setting." – Rider Head Coach Chris Feliciano

- Head Coach Chris Feliciano has never lost to the Peacocks. Rider has won 17 in a row against SPU.
- Rider had a season-high attack percentage of .364 as a team. It marked the third time this year that the team had an attack percentage over .300.
- The Broncs had 49 kills, 49 assists, and 53 digs.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Runyon had 10 or more digs for the 13th straight match. Over her last two matches she is averaging over five digs per set.   
- Riede had 10 or more kills for the eight time this year and the second match in a row.
- The double-double was Sher's team-leading ninth of the season.     

UP NEXT
Rider closes out a weekend of action on Sunday, October 7 with a road non-conference contest against Coppin State.