NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – Sophomore Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) and freshman Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) both recorded double-doubles, but it was not enough as the Rider University volleyball team fell to host Niagara, 3-1, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action on Saturday afternoon at the Gallagher Center.
 
The Broncs (6-11, 3-2 MAAC) dropped their second straight conference match, while the Purple Eagles (4-10, 3-1 MAAC) won their third conference match in a row.   
 
Offensively, Romano and junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) paced the Rider attack. Romano had 16 kills and Ward added 11 of her own.
 
In the middle, Sher had 40 assists, 15 digs, three aces and two total blocks.
 
On the defensive end, Runyon and Sher had 15 digs apiece for the Broncs, while Romano added 14 of her own.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"We just came out with really poor effort and execution from the beginning. We knew Niagara was going to run fast and cause some problems, but our response to that was not a good one. Obviously, I need to do a better job or preparing us for teams that play that style, as we were obviously not prepared so that's on me. That being said, our grit needs to be better in that situation, as we seemed disinterested at times in mounting a fight." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo

- The loss snapped a two-match winning streak for the Broncs against the Purple Eagles.
- As a team, Rider had 44 kills, eight service aces, 44 assists and 75 digs.
- On Tuesday, Morgan Romano was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Romano registered her sixth double-double of the year. It was her second in MAAC play. She also added two service aces.
- Sher recorded her fifth double-double of the fall. It was her third straight match with 40 or more assists. She has recorded 40 or more assists in four of the team's five MAAC matches this year.
- Ward had 10 or more kills for the third match in a row. It was her fifth match with 10 or more kills this year.
 
UP NEXT
Rider closes out a weekend of action in western New York with a conference match against Cansius on Sunday at 1:00 pm.