LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Rider University volleyball team fought back from a tough match Saturday to defeat Siena in four sets Sunday. The Broncs improve to 8-16 overall and 6-8 in league play. The Saints fall to 12-13 on the year and 10-5 in MAAC play.
 
Down 10-6 in the first, Rider went on a 6-2 run to tie the set at 12-12. Rider slowly pulled away taking a 22-19 lead before Pamela Loh (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson) served out the set, with a pair of kills by Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty).
 
Siena took control of the second midway through. Leading 8-6, Siena went on a 6-0 run to blow open the set. Leading 16-11, Siena closed out the set on a 9-3 run.
 
Rider took advantage of the extended break to regroup going into set three, jumping out to a 6-1 lead thanks in large part by a pair of aces by Julia Slivka (Adamstown, MD/Tuscarora). The Saints responded to tie the set at 7-7. In all, there were 13 ties in the set, but at 24-24, Romano and Kianny Santiago (San Juan, PR/Hudson Catholic (NJ)) hit back-to-back kills to secure the set.
 
Rider continued the strong play in the fourth, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. With the lead cut to 10-9, Rider went on a 5-0 run during the serve of Sydney Bond (Homestead, FL/Westminster Christian School). Siena again trimmed the lead to one at 16-15 and 17-16, but the Broncs refused to allow the set to be tied. Leading 20-19, Rider went on a 3-0 run and went on to win the set 25-22, clinching the match.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"Very proud of this team for their response after yesterday's performance. We needed to rebound in a big way and this team showed some grit."
 
"Siena is a good team and our players executed our game plan very well. Individually, Mo had a great night offensively, Koch came in and made some great contributions, Julia stepped up and played libero for the first time, and Sydney did a great job with the offense."
 
"Our energy on the court and the sideline was more consistent, which is something that has to continue. We still have a lot of work to do, but a lot of positives to take out of today." – Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Rider earns the split in the season series, and cut Siena's lead in the all-time series to 29-16.
- Romano led the Broncs with 20 kills in the match, her 14^th match this season in double figures and fifth with 20 or more. Romano also crossed the 1,500-career kill milestone in the fourth set.
- Tori Schrader (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) finished with 10 kills, her fifth time in double figures this season.
- Alicia Iafrate (Closter, NJ/Demarest) led the Broncs with 17 digs, her seventh match in double figures this season.
- Julia Slivka had a double-double with 10 assists and 10 digs, her seventh double-double of the season.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Rider hit .182 in the match to the Saints' .158.
- Rider had 60 digs in the match to 51 for Siena.
- Bond led Rider with 35 assists.
- Santiago added nine kills.

UP NEXT
Rider is back in action Saturday for its final weekend of home matches beginning with Canisius at 1 p.m.