LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University volleyball team fell behind 2-1 to Marist, before storming back to claim the final two sets in a five-set victory Sunday afternoon. The win is the fifth straight for the Broncs, improving their record to 7-8 overall and 5-1 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes saw their four-match winning streak come to an end, evening their record at 9-9 and dropping to 4-3 in league play.
 
Down 4-3 in the opening set, Rider went on a 9-3 run to take control of the match early on. Leading 14-10, it was a 9-2 run that put the opening set away for good.
 
In the second, both sides struggled to find any momentum, as neither team led by more than three points in the entire set. Tied 22-22, the Red Foxes scored three-straight points, capped by a combo block from Alyssa White and Jordan Newblatt to even the match.
 
The Broncs jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in the third set as five different Broncs recorded a kill. Down 10-5, Marist scored five straight to even the set. Following a pair of Rider kills, the Red Foxes scored eight-straight points to build a lead they would not give up.
 
The Broncs came out firing on all cylinders in set four, jumping out to a 10-1 lead behind seven-straight points on the serve of Pamela Loh (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson), including a pair of aces. The Broncs never allowed Marist back into the set, winning 25-14.
 
In the deciding set, Rider trailed 4-3 when Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) served for a 6-0 run that proved to be the final lead change of the match. The Red Foxes closed the gap to 10-9, but Alicia Iafrate (Closter, NJ/Demarest) served three points to put the match out of reach.


QUOTES & NOTES
"It's a really gritty victory. We knew that first set would be an anomaly and they weren't going to play like that the whole match and they fought back. We had to grit through that win. We found a way to pull that out."
 
"We really executed the game plan. We know 16 can score, she's a go-to player and we had to make sure we doubled her whenever we could."
 
"There were moments our pins hit really well through some small windows."
 
"Nina brings a lot of energy. We wanted to use more of her reach and see if we could get a higher contact point on the block. Jordan jumps really high and has a good arm." – Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
"We really picked it up in the fourth and the fifth. We played a lot cleaner. Our serve receive got better and that opened up a lot of things."
 
"We had a really good scout and started seeing things before they happened. My right pins were really helping me post the block well." – Senior Middle Hitter Caprice Clarke
 
- Rider moves closer in the all-time series against Marist, now trailing 29-21.
- Romano had her fifth double-double of the season, with 14 kills to go along with a season-high 20 digs.
- Jordan Taylor (Wellington, FL/Wellington) had a career-high five kills off the bench in the win.
- Caprice Clarke (Toronto, Canada/Blythe Academy [Yorkville]) set a career-high with nine blocks.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- The Broncs hit .230 in the match to the Red Foxes .094. Rider had 56 total kills, to just 49 for Marist.
- Rider has out-hit all five of its opponents during the winning streak.
- Rider had 77 total digs to 68 for Marist.
- Romano's 14 kills led three Broncs in double figures, Jillian Chan (Watchung, NJ/Watchung Hills) finished with 11 and Tori Schrader (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) had 10.
- 14 Broncs recorded a dig in the match, led by Romano's 20. Loh had 17 and the Broncs got eight each from Schrader and Jenna Amaro (Davie, FL/Archbishop McCarthy).
- In addition to Clarke's nine blocks, Romano added five and Anilee Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) had four.

UP NEXT
Rider makes a midweek trip to Manhattan for a match on Wednesday at 7 p.m.