NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Freshman opposite Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) recorded her team-leading seventh double-double of the season to lead the Rider University volleyball team past host Iona, 3-1, on Wednesday evening in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action at the Hynes Athletics Center.
 
The Broncs (8-13, 5-4 MAAC) complete the regular-season sweep of the Gaels (2-16, 2-6 MAAC) thanks to winning by scores of 25-16, 21-25, 25-20 and 25-10.
 
Romano had a match-best 22 kills to go along with 15 digs. In two matches versus Iona this year, she averaged nearly five kills per set.
 
Senior Alexa Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) and junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) both had strong matches offensively as well for Rider. Shello had 12 kills, while Ward added nine of her own.
 
In the middle, sophomore Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) registered 49 assists, seven digs and three total blocks.
 
On the defensive end, senior Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) had a match-high 21 digs, while freshman Pamela Loh (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson) added 12 digs of her own.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"It was good to see us recover from a shaky second set. We started off well dealing with the energy of playing in the first match in the new Hynes Center, as we knew they would be excited to play in there. Iona fought and played great in that second set and midway through the third, but we found a groove offensively, and had some great defensive efforts to help keep the momentum on our side." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Rider has now won three straight matches and six of the last seven contests against Iona.
- It marked the third time in the last four years that the Broncs have swept the regular-season series with the Gaels.
- Rider remained in fifth-place in the MAAC standings with the win.
- As a team, Rider had 54 kills, eight blocks and 70 digs.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Romano now has 354 kills this season. That is the most kills by a Rider freshman since Amy Ford had 526 in 1992. It marked her sixth match this season with 20 or more kills. She has recorded 12 or more digs in back-to-back matches.
- Runyon had 20 or more digs in a match for the ninth time in 2019. During the match, she became the fifth player in program history record 1,400 digs. She now has 1,413 digs and counting.
- Alexa Shello had 12 kills. It was her fourth match with 10 or more kills this year.
 
UP NEXT
Rider squares off with hOURglass rival Saint Peter's on Saturday, October 19, in Jersey City.