Saturday, September 30, 2023/Sunday, October 1, 2023
Rider Broncs (4-10, 3-3 MAAC) vs. Niagara Purple Eagles (5-9, 4-2 MAAC)/Canisius Golden Griffins (3-11, 1-5 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ / Alumni Gym
Time: 1 p.m.
Live Video –Broncvision - Saturday/Sunday
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
 
What You Need To Know
- Both of this weekend's matches will be available on BroncVision.
- The Broncs were selected sixth by the league's coaches in the MAAC Preseason Poll, but were one of six teams to receive a first-place vote. Rider finished seventh in the regular season in 2022 before reaching the MAAC Tournament semifinals with wins over Manhattan and second-seeded Marist. The Broncs ultimately fell in the semifinals to eventual MAAC Champions Quinnipiac.
- Rider returns three starters from a season ago in senior outside hitters Tori Schrader (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) and Jenna Amaro (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Archbishop McCarthy), and MAAC All-Rookie honoree, middle hitter Carley McAleavey (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West).
- Schrader led all active Broncs entering the season with 499 career kills, and her 2.63 kills per set would rank ninth in program history. Amaro has compiled 294 kills, 43 aces, and 366 digs in her first three seasons. McAleavey hit .301 as a freshman, totaling 181 kills and 55 blocks in 92 sets.
- The Broncs will have to fill the void left by the graduation of Morgan Romano (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty), who was named to First-Team All-MAAC honors by the league last season. Romano became the first player in program history to earn four All-MAAC honors during her career.
- Key reserves returning for the Broncs include Kiannisha Santiago (San Juan, PR/Hudson Catholic (NJ)), who finished 2022 with 128 kills in just 59 sets, and defensive specialists Keegan O'Connor (Weatherford, TX/Weatherford) and Molly Strah (Akron, OH/Archbishop Hoban). The duo recorded 2.65 and 2.13 digs per set last season, respectively.
- O'Connor was the star for the Broncs at the Cavalier Classic, totaling 19 digs and five aces across a pair of matches to earn All-Tournament Team honors. O'Connor leads Rider this season, averaging 3.33 digs per set.
- Santiago leads the Broncs this season with 109 kills. She is also second on the squad with 27 blocks.
- Paige Giehtbrock (Clarkston, MI/Clarkston) earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Delaware Invitational, posting 23 kills, six digs, and a pair of aces across the two matches.
- Incoming freshman Molly Rohde (Hortonville, WI/Hortonville) has a team-high 38 blocks and is third on the team with 78 kills, and transfer-junior Ryley Frye (New Hope, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong[UTEP]) has a team-high 274 assists to go along with 22 aces.
- Rohde was dominant last week, compiling 18 kills on .517 hitting. The freshman added three aces, 11 blocks, and a pair of digs. In a MAAC win over Siena, she had eight kills, three aces, and seven blocks. Against Marist, she added 10 kills on .643 hitting, with four blocks and two digs. For her efforts, she was named MAAC Rookie of the Week.
- Rider and Niagara split a pair of three-set matches last season with both teams winnin on their home court. The Purple Eagles lead the all-time series 25-17.
- Niagara's offense is led by Kinga Wronska, who has 99 kills on the season. Wronska, Bella Peroni, and Lexi Bapst each have over 100 digs on the year.
- Canisius won both meetings over the Broncs last season and now lead the Broncs 32-15 all-time.
- Lauren Hubert and Kara Zaucha have 153 and 144 kills, respectively, to lead the Golden Griffins offense. Jillian Hanna has 209 digs to lead the Canisius back line.