LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL – Seniors Hailey Riede (Haworth, NJ/Northern Valley-Demarest), Perry Williams (Portland, OR/Cleveland) and Savannah Logan (Jupiter, FL/Benjamin) combined for 34 kills to lead the third-seeded Rider University volleyball team past No. 10 seed Siena, 3-1, on Thursday morning in the opening round of the 2018 MAAC Volleyball Championship at the HP Field House at ESPN's Wide World of Sports.

The Broncs (18-10) have now won 10 of their last 11 matches, while the Saints (4-28) see their season come to an end. Rider won by a score of 25-14, 25-23, 21-25 and 25-23.

Rider got off to a quick start in the match, scoring the first four points. The turning point in the match came late in the second frame. With Rider leading, 1-0, Siena held a 22-19 edge. The Broncs would end the set strong, scoring six of the final seven points capped by a kill from Williams to take a 2-0 lead.

With Rider trailing in the second set, Williams accounted for the final five Bronc points thanks to four kills and a solo block.

Williams had one of her strongest matches of the year as she finished with 13 kills and a team-best .333 attack percentage. She also had three solo blocks and five block assists at the net.

It was a balanced offensive attack for Rider as four different Broncs had nine or more kills. Riede and junior Alex Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) were the other Rider players with over 10 kills. Riede had 12, while Shello contributed 10. Logan added nine kills for Rider.

In the middle, freshman Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) was solid on both sides of the ball as she had another double-double thanks to a 42-assist, 12-dig performance.   

On the defensive end, junior libero Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) had another impressive match for the Broncs with 26 digs. Sophomore Danielle Blanco (El Paso, TX/Franklin) added seven digs and classmate Brynn Sherbert (Temecula, CA/Great Oak) chipped in nine digs on the backline for the Broncs.    

NOTES & QUOTES
"This continues to be a special year for a special group. Today we found a way to pull out points in critical moments. In order for our program to grow it is imperative for us to continue to take steps forward. Today we did that as we won a meaningful playoff match for the first time since joining the MAAC." – Rider Head Coach Chris Feliciano

- Rider had 66 points, 51 kills, 47 assists, 14 total blocks and 77 digs.
- The Broncs took advantage of 31 Siena attack errors and nine Saint service errors.
- Rider has now won four of the last five meetings between the two teams, including three straight.
- The Broncs avenged a loss to Siena in the opening round of the 2016 MAAC Championship.
- The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Rider in the MAAC Volleyball Championship.
- The 18 wins are the most for the Broncs under Feliciano as the team won 17 in three of the last four years.
- The 18 wins are the most for Rider since the team won 20 matches in 1994 en route to an NEC Championship.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Runyon had 10 or more digs for the 26th straight match. On the season, she has a team-best 527 digs. Runyon is the fifth different player in program history to record over 500 digs in as season. She has the fourth-most digs in single-season program history. It marked her 11th match with 20 or more digs this season.       
- On Tuesday, Runyon was named the MAAC Libero of the Week for the third straight week and the fourth time this season.
- Riede had 10 or more kills for the 18th match this autumn. She did so for the 10th time in her last 11 matches. She ranks third in program history with 1,279 kills. Riede has topped 287 kills in all four of her seasons with the team.
- Sher now has 975 assists this year. That is the fifth-most in a single season in program history. She is just the fifth different player in Rider history to dish out over 900 assists in a year.
- It marked Shello's eighth match this season with 10 or more kills.
- Williams had seven or more total blocks in a match for the seventh time this season. She currently leads the MAAC in total blocks (116), blocks per set (1.08), solo blocks (31) and block assists (85).

UP NEXT
Rider advances to the second round of the MAAC Championship. The Broncs will take on the lowest-seeded team to advance on Friday, November 16 at 10:00 AM at the HP Field House. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Visit GoBroncs.com for the most up to date information on all things Rider volleyball.