PRINCESS ANNE, MD – Freshman Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) recorded her third double-double of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Rider University volleyball team fell on the road to Maryland Eastern Shore, 3-1, on Friday evening as part of the Henson's Hawk Invitational.
 
The Broncs (2-7) saw their two-match winning streak come to an end, while the Hawks (3-5) snapped their four-game losing streak with the victory.
 
Romano continued her strong play for Rider with a 22-kill, 12-dig performance. On the offensive end, seniors Alexa Shello (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) and Evelyn Shanefield (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) each added seven kills apiece.
 
In the middle, sophomore Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) had 39 assists, nine digs, four service aces and three block assists.
 
Defensively, senior Rachelle Runyon (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) registered a season-high 29 digs. 
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"First, a lot of credit to UMES for playing a spirited, gritty match. We ended up in a street fight with them and their offense just did a better job of hitting the daylight in our block and defense. On the flip side, we just were not as sharp with our attack phase, and found too many hands on their block. There were other areas we could have played cleaner and more consistently, but when you allow a team to goat you into a street fight, technique suffers and at times that hurt us. I'll need to do a better job finding ways for our offense to get going, and make sure we stay disciplined. This loss falls on me." - Rider Head Coach Jeff Rotondo 

- As a team, Rider had 45 kills, six service aces, 76 digs and four blocks.
- The Broncs committed 29 attack errors and 13 service aces.
- Rider registered 22 or more points in all four sets.
- The meeting was the first between the two teams since 2016.
- UMES has won each of the last five meetings in the series history.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Romano recorded 20 or more kills for the second time in her young career. She had a .314 hitting percentage, it was her fourth match with an attack percentage over .300.
- Freshman Alicia Iafrate had seven digs for Rider. It was her fifth match with seven or more digs this year.
- Runyon had 20 or more digs in a match for the fourth time this year. Runyon now has 1,197 digs in her career as she moved into ninth-place in program history in career digs.
 
UP NEXT
Rider closes out action at the 2019 Henson's Hawk Invitational hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, September 14, with a pair of neutral-site matches against Robert Morris and Hampton.