LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University volleyball team fell at home to visiting Fairfield, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play inside Alumni Gymnasium.
 
The Stags (12-4, 7-0 MAAC) remained perfect in conference play thanks to topping the Broncs (7-13, 4-4 MAAC) by scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-15.
 
Rider struggled at the net offensively, recording an attack percentage of .085 on the day.
 
It was a balanced attack for the hosts as Jillian Chan (Watchung, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional) and Alexa Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Catholic) paced the Broncs offensively with eight kills apiece. Junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) added six kills for the Broncs.
 
In the middle, Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) recorded 28 assists for Rider.
 
Defensively, Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) and Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) each had 12 digs apiece for the Broncs.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"Moving forward from today it comes down to our preparation. We noticed there were certain instances where we had a lack of confidence. Fairfield is good and they execute at a high level. We need to respond better to being pushed." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Fairfield has won seven of the last eight matches against the Broncs.
- As a team, Rider had 28 kills, five blocks and 52 digs.
- It was just the second match this year in which Rider did not have a player register 10 or more kills.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Romano had 10 or more digs in a match for the seventh time this year. On the season, she has 334 kills. That is the most kill by a Rider freshman since Jaclyn Levi had 350 in 2001.
- Jillian Chan had eight or more kills for the second time this season and the second time in her career.
- Runyon has recorded 10 or more digs in 18 of the team's 20 matches this season. In her career, she has 1,392 career digs. She currently ranks fifth in program history in career digs.
 
UP NEXT
Rider returns to action on Wednesday, October 16, with a road MAAC match at Iona. The Broncs are looking for the regular-season sweep of the Gaels after topping Iona at home earlier this autumn.