LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Seniors Evelyn Shanefield (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) and Alexa Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) combined for 21 kills, while classmate Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) added nine digs as the Rider University volleyball team defeated hOURglass rival Saint Peter's, 3-0, on Saturday in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside Alumni Gymnasium.
 
The Broncs (15-15, 12-6 MAAC) secured the regular-season sweep of the Peacocks (3-27, 1-17 MAAC) thanks to winning by scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-17.
 
On senior day, the three graduating Broncs helped Rider tie a program record with the 12th MAAC win of the season.
 
Rider controlled the tempo and pace throughout as the Broncs held SPU to a hitting percentage of .101. At the net on the offensive end, Rider hit a season-high .438.
 
Freshman Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) paced the Rider attack with a match-high 16 kills.
 
In the middle, sophomore Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) had another strong game running the offense with 44 assists.
 
Defensively, Danielle Blanco (El Paso TX/Franklin) had a team-high 10 digs and both Morgan Koch (Bloomington, IL/Central Catholic) and Jillian Chan (Watchung, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional) had four total blocks apiece.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"We're happy with what we saw today compared to Wednesday. There is still a lot more room for growth in our energy. We want to dictate that, we don't want our opponents to." - Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo

"When I first got here I had two weeks with the seniors before they left for the summer. I had a chance to talk to them about what they liked in the program and what they wanted to change. The three of them were really welcoming to me and Sue and they embraced us." - Rotondo
 
- Rider tied its program record for MAAC wins in a year with 12.
- The Broncs will have to wait for tomorrow's results to see where they will finish in the league standings. Rider can finish as high as third and as low as fifth.
- Rider has now won 21 of the last 22 meetings with Saint Peter's.
- As a team, 60 points, 47 kills, six aces and seven total blocks and 39 digs.
- Rider hit over .400 as a team for the first time since September of 2016.
- On Tuesday, Morgan Romano was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the 11th time this fall.   
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Morgan Romano now has 510 kills on the season. She is the first Bronc with over 500 kills in a season since 1993. She is also the first player in the MAAC with over 500 kills since 2009.Romano had a career-high .667 hitting percentage.  It was her third match this year with a hitting percentage over .500.
- Evelyn Shanefield recorded her 500th career kills in the win. She moved into a tie for second-place in program history with 276 career block assists. Shanefield is now three total blocks away from moving into fifth-place in Rider history.
- Runyon moved into third-place in Rider history with 1,583 career digs. On the afternoon, she had nine. This fall, she has 543 digs. Her 543 digs are the fifth-most in a single-season in program history.
- Anilee Sher had over 40 assists in a match for the 14th time this year. On the season, she has 1,091 assists and she is averaging 10.91 assists per set. The 1,091 assists are tied for the third-most in a single-season in program history.