BUFFALO, NY – The Rider University volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller, 3-2, on the road to Canisius on Sunday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action on Saturday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
The Broncs (6-12, 3-3 MAAC) suffered their third conference loss in a row, while the Griffs (8-9, 5-0 MAAC) remained unbeaten in league play with their fifth straight victory.
 
In the deciding fifth frame, Canisius scored the first three points as the hosts never looked back. The Griffs stretched their lead to as many as six at 8-2 before Rider showed some fight.
 
Canisius was too much down the stretch as the Griffs scored two of the final three points on kills to earn the come-from-behind win.
 
Offensively, freshman Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) led the way for the guests with a match-high 24 kills. Junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) tied a career-best with 16 kills and senior Evelyn Shanefield (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) contributed a season-best 11 kills.
 
In the middle, sophomore setter Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) registered her second straight double-double thanks to a 52-assist, 11-dig performance.
 
Defensively, senior libero Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) had a match-best 27 digs.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"Overall, it was a very good response to yesterday, which was the worst match we played all season. Our energy, and play within our systems was much better. Unfortunately, we had an opportunity to win the match in four sets and we came out very flat. We didn't start competing until about two-thirds of the way through that set." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
"In addition, we have not been very good in fifth sets, so it is my job to find out why and get that corrected. That being said, sets two and three today were the best I've seen us play. We have to continue to preach consistency, specifically with effort, focus, and emotions." – Rotondo

- Canisius has won four straight matches against the Broncs.
- As a team, Rider had 63 kills, nine service aces, 10 blocks and 66 digs.
- On Tuesday, Morgan Romano was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Runyon had 20 or more digs in a match for the eighth time this fall. On the day, she moved into fifth-place in program history with 1,363 career digs. Runyon is 107 digs away from moving into sole possession of fourth-place on the Rider digs list.
- Romano had 20 or more kills for the sixth time this fall. She has registered 20 or more kills in a MAAC match four times. She leads the MAAC in kills, kills per set, points and points per set this year. On the year, she has 313 kills.
- Ali Ward had 10 or more kills for the fourth match in a row and the sixth time this year.
- Freshman Morgan Koch tied a career-high with six block assists. It was her third match this fall with six block assists.
- Sher had her sixth double-double of the season.
 
UP NEXT
Rider returns home next weekend for a pair of conference matches on October 12-13. The Broncs will host Quinnipiac on Saturday, October 12, before welcoming Fairfield to campus on Sunday afternoon.