POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) and freshman Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) combined for 35 kills to lead the Rider University volleyball team past host Marist, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside McCann Arena.
 
The Broncs (10-13, 7-4 MAAC) avenged an early-season setback to the Red Foxes (9-12, 7-4 MAAC) thanks to winning by scores of 29-27, 26-24 and 29-27.
 
Romano continued her stellar play for Rider with a match-high 21 kills to go along with two service aces, three block assists and seven digs. Ward was a solid contributor at the net for the guests with 14 kills of her own.
 
Trailing, 23-20, in the third set, the Broncs answered to with three straight points to tie the game. Later in the stanza with the score tied at 27, Rider got back-to-back kills from senior Evelyn Shanefield (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) and Ward to seal the victory.
 
In the middle, sophomore setter Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) ran the offense well in her hometown. Sher had 41 assists and seven digs.
 
On the back line for Rider, senior libero Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) had a match-high 20 digs, while Danielle Blanco (El Paso, TX/Franklin) had 12 digs of her own.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"We talked a lot about having confidence and conviction for this match, and how fighting for each other would need to take place from start to finish. Marist is a great team with some very strong offensive numbers. We knew we had to adjust what we did blocking and defensively last time we played them, and the team adjusted very well to what we implemented. More than anything, I'm proud of the team's grit today in some very tense sets." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- As a team, Rider had 50 kills, nine blocks, six aces and 57 digs.  
- Rider and Marist split the regular-season series for the second year in a row. Both road teams won in the regular-season series for the second straight season as well.
- The Broncs have won three straight matches in Poughkeepsie against the Red Foxes.
- The win was number 100 in the career of Head Coach Jeff Rotondo.
- On Monday, freshman Morgan Romano was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the eighth time this year.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- The match was Romano's eighth this season with 20 or more kills. On the season she now has 391 kills. That is the most kills by a Bronc since Jaclyn Levi had 427 in 2004. The 391 kills are the most by a Rider freshman since Amy Ford had 526 in 1992.
- Ali Ward had 10 or more kills in a match for the eighth time in 2019. This year, she has a career-high 180 kills.
- In the middle, Morgan Koch tied a career-best with six block assists. It was her fifth match with six or more block assists this year.
- Rachelle Runyon had 20 or more digs for the 10th time this year.
 
UP NEXT
Rider closes out a weekend of MAAC action in the Empire State on Sunday, October 27, with a match at Siena. The Broncs are looking for the regular-season sweep of the Saints after topping Siena in Lawrenceville in September.