POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Rider University volleyball team began conference play with a victory Friday night, defeating Marist, 18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19. The Broncs improve to 3-8 on the season, while the Red Foxes dropped to 1-11. The match kicked off conference play for both squads.
 
Marist jumped out to a big lead early in set one, going up 10-5, then extending the advantage to as large as 19-12. The Broncs fought back with a 4-1 run, capped by an ace from Makenna Mason (Hilton Head Island, SC/Hilton Head), but the damage had already been done and Marist pulled away to take the set.
 
Rider jumped out to the large lead in set two, getting an ace from Simone Langford (Hollywood, FL/Flanagan) to go ahead 4-0. Marist would refuse to go away, keeping the set tight, and eventually tying the set 20-20 before going ahead 23-22. At that point, Rider showed its grit getting a kill by Carley McAleavey (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) to tie the set 23-23, then after a Marist error gave the Broncs set point, Kiannisha Santiago (San Juan, PR/Hudson Catholic (NJ)) delivered the ace to even the match.
 
Down 5-2 early in set three, the Broncs went on an 11-3 run, including a pair of aces by Santiago and another two from Carly Allen (Buffalo, NY/Sacred Heart Academy). Rider continued to pull away with a 9-3 run later in the set, led by three kills from Erynn Gotsch (DeLand, FL/DeLand), before the Broncs put away the set on another ace by Allen.
 
In the fourth, both sides swapped rallies early before down 11-10, the Broncs went on an 8-0 run, led by three kills and a block from Santiago. Rider maintained the edge, going ahead 22-13 before the Red Foxes made a run, but the Broncs dashed any hope of a Marist comeback.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"We got off to a slow start but picked it up from there. The beginning couple of sets we lost the serve/pass battle, but found a way to outhit them in the second and finally play cleaner in the third and fourth with our offense picking up some steam. Kianny was really good tonight on the attack and at the serve line. Erynn stepped up and played well, and Keegan and Simone came up with some clutch digs when we needed them. Our middles were really efficient as well. We liked the way Makenna ran the offense and distributed the ball around tonight. We do need to block better as a team, and hopefully we can figure that out by tomorrow against Siena." – Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Rider cuts Marist's lead in the all-time series to 34-25.
- Santiago led all players in the match with a season-high 23 kills, reaching double figures for the fifth time this season and 38^th time in her career.
- Gotsch reached double figures in kills for the first time in her career, securing a career-high 12 kills.
- McAleavey had 10 kills on .600 hitting, reaching double figures for the third time this season and 12^th time in her career
- Mason had 47 assists for her 10^th match this season and 56^th match in her career with double digits. She added 12 assists for her fourth career double-double.
- Langford led all players with 14 digs, finishing in double figures for the first time this season and eighth time in her career.
- Keegan O'Connor (Weatherford, TX/Weatherford) added 12 digs to reach double figures for the

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- The Broncs hit .317 in the match, while the Red Foxes hit .276 as a team.
- Rider had 58 kills to 48 for Marist.
- The Broncs had 46 digs, while Marist finished with 40.
- Rider held a 12-6 edge in aces.

UP NEXT
The Broncs are back in action Saturday at Siena to complete the opening conference weekend. First serve is at 2 p.m.