BUFFALO, NY – In a rematch of last season's MAAC Championship match, the Rider University volleyball team topped Canisius in five sets. The Broncs improved to 10-9 overall and 8-3 in the MAAC, while the Golden Griffins dropped to 6-13 overall and 6-4 in league play.
 
Leading 4-3, the Broncs scored five straight including back-to-back combo blocks by Caprice Clarke (Toronto, Canada/Blyth Academy[Yorkville]) and Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill). Later in the set, Jillian Chan (Watchung, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional) had back-to-back kills to put Rider up 24-18, before the Broncs took the set 25-20.
 
The second set was tight early, but with Rider holding a 16-14 lead Canisius won eight-straight points to take control of the set. Tori Schrader (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) had three kills as part of a 5-0 run that got Rider close, but the Golden Griffins took the set 25-23.
 
Canisius took control of set three early, scoring eight-straight points after falling behind 7-3. Leading 12-9, Canisius put the set out of reach with a 6-0 run.
 
Leading 8-6 in the fourth, Rider refused to go away quietly, going on a 10-3 run to take control of the set and force a deciding fifth.
 
The final set was a series of runs. With Rider up 7-4, Canisius won five-straight points to go up 9-7. The Broncs immediately answered with a 7-2 run that set up match point. Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) then recorded her 24^th kill of the match, giving the Broncs the victory.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"Definitely a good thing for our psyche to get this comeback win today. We played a clean first set, and then got away from what made us successful. The team recovered well in sets four and five. Canisius is a great team and Shannon is a great coach. They played a spirited match today."
 
"I thought Nini did a very good job of running the offense today, and getting her hitters in advantageous positions. Morgan was great. I had a conversation with her pre-game to go hit home runs today and she did just that. Getting her 1,000^th kill in such a short amount of time is incredible." – Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Rider cuts into the Golden Griffins all-time series lead, which now stands at 30-14.
- Romano led the Broncs with 24 kills, her 16^th time leading the Broncs in kills this season.
- Romano becomes just the ninth player in program history to record 1,000 career kills.
- Romano also added 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.
- Clarke tied a career-high 10 blocks.
- Sher had eight blocks to post a career-high.
- Jenna Amaro (Davie, FL/Archbishop McCarthy) tied a career-high with 14 digs.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- The Broncs hit .256 in the match to the Golden Griffins .224. Rider had 63 total kills, to 60 for Canisius.
- The Broncs had 14 blocks to eight for Canisius.
- Rider's 71 digs out-paced the Golden Griffins' 62
- Eight Broncs recorded a kill in the match led by Romano's 24. Along with Romano, Clarke and Chan each had nine and Amaro added eight.
- Nine players recorded a dig in the match, led by 17 from Pamela Loh (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson). Romano and Amaro each had 14 to go with 11 from Sher.

UP NEXT
Rider travels to Columbia for a non-conference match on Wednesday at 7 p.m.