Friday, November 22, 2024
No. 3 Rider Broncs (15-16, 14-4 MAAC) vs. No. 6 Niagara Purple Eagles (15-14, 11-7 MAAC) / No. 7 Merrimack Warriors (10-20, 8-10 MAAC)
Location: UHY Center (Albany, NY)
Time: 7 p.m.
Live Video – ESPN+
Live Stats – SienaSaints.com
 
What You Need To Know
- All matches at the MAAC Tournament will be available on ESPN+.
- The Broncs were selected fourth by the league's coaches in the MAAC Preseason Poll. Rider finished fifth in the regular season in 2022 before reaching the MAAC Tournament semifinals with a win over Niagara. The Broncs ultimately fell in the semifinals to eventual MAAC Champions Fairfield.
- The Broncs finished 14-4 in conference play, and earned the third seed in the conference tournament, getting a bye in the first round. The Broncs will play the winner of sixth-seeded Niagara and seventh-seeded Merrimack. The top two seeds, Fairfield and Quinnipiac, both received two byes and will advance straight to the semifinals.
- The Broncs had three players named to the All-MAAC teams this season, led by Kiannisha Santiago (San Juan, PR/Hudson Catholic (NJ)), who was named to the All-MAAC First Team. Earning All-MAAC Second Team honors were Paige Giehtbrock (Clarkston, MI/Clarkston) and Molly Rhode (Hortonville, WI/Hortonville)
- Giehtbrock totaled 48 kills, 37 digs, nine aces, and six blocks as the Broncs went 3-0 during a weekly stretch to earn MAAC Player of the Week honors on Oct. 9.
-Santiago leads the Broncs this season with 310 kills and she ranks ninth in the MAAC at 3.43 per set. Giehtbrock is second on the team with 262 and Rylah Robinson (Fairfax, VA/Robinson) is the third member of the squad with over 200, finishing the regular season with 228. Giehtbrock also ranks fifth in the MAAC at 0.44 aces per set.
- Ryley Frye (New Hope, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong[UTEP]) and Makenna Mason (Hilton Head Island, SC/Hilton Head) currently have 491 and 471 assists, respectively. Frye earned her 1,000^th career assist at Rider against Iona and sits just ahead of Giehtbrock at 0.46 aces per set this season, third in the MAAC. Her eight aces against Siena are tied for the second-most in the country this season in a three-set match.
- Keegan O'Connor (Weatherford, TX/Weatherford) tops the Broncs at 3.43 digs per set and 305 total digs. Her 3.43 digs per set rank fifth in the league. Simone Langford (Hollywood, FL/Flanagan) sits right behind with 217 digs this season.
- Rohde leads the Broncs and is second in the MAAC with 123 blocks including 13 in the MAAC opener against Quinnipiac. Rohde's 112 block assists rank third in program history.
- Niagara leads the all-time series 25-21, but the Broncs won the lone match over the Purple Eagles with a five-set win back in the beginning of October. In that match the Broncs became the only team in the country this season to have four players record double-digit assists in a match.
- Rider leads the all-time series over Merrimack 2-0, including a straight-set win during the team's only meeting this season, back in September. The Broncs were dominant in the match, hitting .305 as a team while holding Merrimack to .093.