LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Freshman opposite Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) and junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) combined for 30 kills to lead the Rider University volleyball team past visiting Quinnipiac, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside Alumni Gymnasium.
 
The Broncs (7-12, 4-3 MAAC) ended a three-game conference losing streak with the victory, while the Bobcats (6-10, 2-5 MAAC) have dropped two of their last three league matches.
 
Romano had a match-high 18 kills to go along with an impressive .517 attack percentage, while Ward added 12 kills of her own.
 
In the middle, sophomore Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) did a solid job running the offense as she finished with 40 assists and one kill.
 
Defensively, senior Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) recorded a match-best 17 digs and freshman Morgan Koch (Bloomington, IL/Central Catholic) had one solo block and six block assists at the net.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"We talked about how well of a blocking team Quinnipiac was coming into the match and we knew we had to find a way to match that. We spent a good amount of time on that during the week. The team implemented everything we threw at them really well today. It's up to them when they're on the court and they did a great job." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- The all-time series between Quinnipiac and Rider is now tied, 9-9.
- The Broncs have won three matches in a row against the Bobcats.
- As a team, Rider had 45 kills, 12 blocks, 40 digs and four service aces.
- It was the third match this year in which the Broncs totaled 12 or more blocks.
- Rider took advantage of 22 Quinnipiac attack errors.
- On Tuesday, Morgan Romano was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the sixth time this fall.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Ali Ward 11 or more kills for the fifth straight match. It was her seventh time this year with 10 or more kills. She has already set new career-highs this year in sets played (62), matches played (19), kills (147), total attacks (505) and total blocks (22).
- Romano continues to be a force on the offensive end for Rider. It was her second match this season with 14 or more kills and an attack percentage over .500. She has registered 11 or more kills in 18 of her 19 appearances in 2019. She has 331 kills on the year. It's the most by a freshman since Hailey Riede had 332 in 2015.
- Morgan Koch also added four kills up front. It was her second straight match with six or more block assists. She has totaled six block assists in four matches this season.
- Anilee Sher moved into eight-place in program history with 1,669 career assists.
 
UP NEXT
Rider closes out a weekend of home MAAC play with a match against Fairfield on Sunday, October 13, at 1:00 pm.