LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - The Rider University volleyball team was topped in a non-conference match Tuesday night, falling to Hofstra, 25-22, 25-9, 25-14. The Broncs fall to 8-12 on the year, while the Pride improve to 16-2.
 
Down 7-5 in the opening set, the Broncs took the lead with a 4-0 run, capped by back-to-back kills from Rylah Robinson (Fairfax, VA/Robinson). Then tied 9-9, the Broncs went on another 4-0 run, led by a kill and a block from Kiannisha Santiago (San Juan, PR/Hudson Catholic (NJ)). Hofstra would immediately respond with a 6-0 run to take back control of the set. Tied 18-18, the Pride went on a 5-1 run and would maintain the lead through the end of the set.
 
Set two was all Hofstra with the Pride jumping out to a 6-1 lead, extending the advantage to 10-2, and later 17-3. The Broncs would fight back with a pair of Molly Rohde (Hortonville, WI/Hortonville) kills pulling the Broncs to within 19-8, but that was as close as the Broncs would get.
 
Set three started all in favor of Hofstra, with the Pride building an 8-1 lead. The Broncs would respond with a 5-1 run, capped by an ace from Simone Langford (Hollywood, FL/Flanagan). Leading 10-7, the Pride extended the lead with a 6-1 run, and the Broncs would not be able to recover.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"We have to stay a little more disciplined and aggressive in all phases. I think we lost some discipline with our technical stuff in sets two and three, and it just kind of snowballed on us. We were able to fight back a little more in set three. They're an extremely aggressive team, they're well coached, and they just come swinging hard. We really liked the effort and what we saw in the first set and had a chance to steal that one." – Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
"We had some tough moments, but our energy stayed high and our effort was there. We try to fight for every point, play together as a team, and find different ways to score. We stayed aggressive all night, which was good." – Junior Setter Katie Cook
 
- Hofstra extends its lead in the all-time series to 17-1.
- Makenna Mason (Hilton Head Island, SC/Hilton Head) had 11 assists in just the opening set for her 18^th match this season and 64^th match in her career with double digits.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- The Broncs hit .097 in the match, while the Pride hit .376 as a team.
- Hofstra had 43 kills to 25 for Rider.
- The Pride had 40 digs to 26 for the Broncs.
- Hofstra held an edge of 8-2 in aces and both teams had four blocks.
- Santiago had seven kills, playing just the opening set to lead the Broncs.
- Rohde, Robinson, Santiago, and Langford each had three digs to lead Rider in the match.

UP NEXT
The Broncs are back in action Friday, traveling to Iona for a 5 p.m. match.