HAMDEN, CT – Senior middle Evelyn Shanefield (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) registered a career-high 11 total blocks to help the Rider University volleyball team down host Quinnipiac, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action.
 
The Broncs (14-14, 11-5 MAAC) secured the regular-season sweep of the Bobcats (11-13, 7-8 MAAC) thanks to winning by scores of 27-25, 25-13 and 25-18.
 
Trailing, 24-21, late in the first set, Rider battled back to tie the game. With the score knotted at 25, the Broncs got back-to-back kills from Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) and Alexa Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Broncs played strong after that to score the sweep.
 
Offensively, Romano paced the Rider attack with 14 kills, while junior Ali Ward (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) chipped in eight kills of her own.
 
Sophomore Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) was solid running the offense again as she 32 assists to go along with seven digs.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"It was a solid effort to bounce back from the match yesterday. I have a lot of respect for Kyle and the Quinnipiac program, and felt this was going to be a fight. The first set was back and forth, and in the 2nd and 3rd sets our block and defense really set the tone. Evie and Koch did a great job of sealing up the net, and our hitters stayed aggressive throughout. It's a good team win." – Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Rider leads the all-time series with Quinnipiac, 10-9.
- The Broncs have won four matches in a row against the Bobcats thanks to sweeping the regular-season series in each of the last two years.
- For the second season in a row and the fourth time in the last five years, Rider has won 11 or more MAAC matches.
- As a team, 63 points, 39 kills, a season-high 20 blocks, four service aces and 45 digs.
- On Tuesday, Morgan Romano was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the 10th time this fall.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Evelyn Shanefield had her strongest match of the season. She had two solo blocks, nine block assists and four kills. She became just the third player in program with over 270 block assists. She is six block assists away from moving into second-place in program history.
- Rachelle Runyon had 11 digs for the Broncs. She became just the second player in program history to record multiple 500-dig seasons.
- Morgan Romano now has 476 kills on the season. She is just the second freshman in program history with over 475 kills. Her 476 kills are the fourth-most in a single season in program history. It was her eighth straight match with 14 or more kills.
 
UP NEXT
Rider returns to the court on Wednesday, November 13, with a home MAAC match against Manhattan. The Broncs are looking for the regular-season sweep of the Jaspers after topping Manhattan, 3-1, earlier this autumn.