LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University volleyball team opened Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play with a 3-0 victory against Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon inside Alumni Gymnasium. The Broncs won by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-21.

Rider (5-3, 1-0 MAAC) has now won five of their last six matches, while the Bobcats (1-9, 0-1 MAAC) dropped their third straight contest.  

Offensively it was a two-headed attack for the Broncs as seniors Savannah Logan (Jupiter, FL/Benjamin) and Hailey Riede (Haworth, NJ/Northern Valley-Demarest) combined for 24 kills. Logan had a match-best 13 kills to go along with a .303 hitting percentage, while Riede added 11 kills.

In the middle, freshman Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) continued her strong play with 35 assists, two kills, one service ace and nine digs.

At the net, middle hitter Perry Williams (Portland, OR/Cleveland) contributed eight kills and a season-best .667 attack percentage. She also added two solo blocks to account for 10 total points.

On the defensive end, junior Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) was stellar once again for Rider with 19 digs. Sophomore Brynn Sherbert (Temecula, CA/Great Oak) chipped in nine digs, while Logan and sophomore Danielle Blanco (El Paso, TX/Franklin) each had seven digs.

NOTES & QUOTES
"In a scouting we noticed a mismatch that we felt was in our favor and we made an adjustment to our lineup to take advantage of it." – Rider Head Coach Chris Feliciano

"It's interesting, everyone keeps asking what our team's identity is and I'm still not sure. We are a resilient group that perseveres and finds ways to win games. That's a testament to our team fitting well together not only in the gym, but outside as well. We have a lot of work to do." – Feliciano

"This is one of the cleaner matches that we've played this year. It was nice to see us play a clean match. We were outstanding defensively." – Feliciano

- The three-game victory was the first for Rider this season.
- The win was the first for the Broncs against the Bobcats since 2015. It snapped a five-match losing streak for Rider versus QU.
- As a team, the Broncs had 43 kills, 52 digs and eight total blocks.  
- Rider had a .293 hitting percentage in the match, highlighted by 16 kills in the opening frame and a .444 hitting percentage in the third set.
- On Tuesday, Runyon was named the MAAC Libero of the Week and Sher was tabbed as the MAAC Co-Rookie of the Week.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- The Broncs have now won their last seven home openers under Feliciano. Rider has also won five of their last six MAAC home openers. Since Feliciano took over, the team is 6-2 in their first home MAAC match of the year.
- Runyon averaged over six digs per set. She has recorded 10 or more digs in seven of the team's eight matches this fall. She has also registered 14 or more digs in six matches in a row.
-  Sher had 35 or more assists for the sixth match in a row.
- Logan now leads the team with 95 kills.
- Riede is averaging 3.83 kills per set this season and a team-best .304 attack percentage.

UP NEXT
Rider closes out a weekend of MAAC play tomorrow, Sunday, September 16 with a home tilt against Fairfield. The contest will be streamed live on BroncVision and is slated to begin at 1:00 pm.