WEST POINT, NY – The Rider University volleyball team was defeated in four sets Saturday in both of their matches at the Black Knight Invitational, falling to Hofstra, 25-27, 25-14, 25-13, 25-11, and Army, 25-17, 25-27, 25-14, 26-24. Rider falls to 1-4 on the season, while the Pride improve to 3-0 and the Black Knights move to 3-2.
 
Hofstra jumped out to an early lead in the days opening match, using runs of 7-0 and 4-0 to build a 17-8 lead. Trailing 18-11, Rider went on a 7-0 run during the serve of Keegan O'Connor (Weatherford, TX/Weatherford), including two kills each from Kiannisha Santiago (San Juan, PR/Hudson Catholic (NJ)) and Erynn Gotsch (DeLand, FL/DeLand). Down 24-23 later in the set, Brynn Johnson (River Falls, WI/River Falls) got a kill to tie the match, then Carly Allen (Buffalo, NY/Sacred Heart Academy) gave the Broncs the lead with an ace. After the Pride tied the set 25-25, the Broncs got a kill by Gotsch and a combo block from Santiago and Carley McAleavey (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) to secure the set.
 
The Broncs were unable to gain any traction in the remaining three sets against Hofstra, scoring more than two-consecutive points just once for the remainder of the match with Hofstra coming back to earn the win.
 
In match two against Army, The Black Knights jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening set and never looked back. The Broncs fired back in set two. Trailing 4-2, Rider went on a 6-0 run, including a pair of aces by Grace Borys (De Pere, WI/Notre Dame Academy). Army would respond, tying the set at 13 before taking back the lead at 15-14. Down 23-20, the Broncs would score three-straight points to even the set, then after Army scored to earn set point, Rylah Robinson (Fairfax, VA/Robinson) got a kill to fight off the set point and Molly Rohde got a block to put Rider in front. The Black Knights fought off the first Rider set point, but it was another Robinson kill followed by an ace from Cecilia DeCaro (Wilmington, DE/Ursuline Academy) that secured the second set for the Broncs.
 
Army recovered to win the third set comfortably before a battle in the fourth. Army led 16-11 when the Broncs made their run in the decisive set. Rider went on an 8-2 run with four different Broncs recording kills during the run, led by two from Madison Daley (Appleton, WI/Xavier) to take a 19-18 lead. After Army fought back to take a 21-19 lead, Rider countered with a 5-1 run to earn a pair of set points. The Black Knights once again had the answer, fighting off both set points and continuing the run with another pair of points to serve out the set and earn the win.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"Saw a really gritty performance in set one against Hofstra, fighting back from a 17-8 deficit to take that first set 27-25, unfortunately we couldn't carry the momentum into the rest of the match. Their offense frustrated our block and defense all day. It was apparent I have not done a good enough job training that system, so I need to get that fixed and will. We do need to manage our unforced errors a lot better as well. Last night, we had 35 in 3 sets, and today we had 39 in match one. This is way too high a number to overcome vs teams that are efficient."
 
"Tough loss there in the fourth set against Army, displaying another situation we can't close when we have leads. Similar to Syracuse, we had an opportunity to close that set out at 24-22 and came up short. That being said, we did see a lot of good from our youth. Grace, Madison, and Annabell all played well against a big and physical Army team. We have to be better in our passing phase right now, as we are bleeding too many runs which is causing a lot of issues offensively and helping other teams to stretch leads out." – Head Coach Jeff Rotondo
 
- Hofstra leads the all-time series 16-1 over the Broncs and Army leads the all-time series 6-2.
- Borys, Daley, and Annabell Zachritz (Gainesville, FL/The Rock School) made their collegiate debuts in the match against Army, with Zachritz getting a start.
- Robinson led Rider with 12 kills against Army, reaching double digits for the third time this season and 14^th time in her career. She also had a career-high 11 digs for her first career double-double.
- DeCaro added 10 kills against Army to reach double digits for the first time in her career.
- Makenna Mason (Hilton Head Island, SC/Hilton Head) had 29 assists against the Pride for her fourth match this season and 50^th match in her career with double digits.
- Against Army, Katie Cook (Stanley, NC/East Lincoln[Robert Morris]) had 21 assists and Borys added 16, for their first matches in double figures as Broncs.
- Santiago had 15 digs against Hofstra, reaching double figures for the second time this season and 10^th time in her career.
- O'Connor had 11 digs against Hofstra and a match-high 17 digs against Army, reaching double figures now 55 times in her career and has reached the mark in her fifth-straight match to start the season.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Against Hofstra, the Broncs hit .042, while the Pride hit .338.
- Hofstra had 59 kills to 35 for Rider.
- The Pride had 65 digs, while Rider finished with 48.
- Hofstra had edges of 9-3 in blocks, and 3-2 in aces.
- In the Army match, the Black Knights hit .304 and Rider hit .131.
- Army had 61 kills to 42 for Rider.
- The Black Knights had a 54-48 edge in digs.
- Rider held an 11-9 lead in aces over Army, with both sides recording seven blocks in that match

UP NEXT
The Broncs are back in action Wednesday to face Rutgers as a part of the Tournament co-hosted by the Rider and the Scarlet Knights.