September 2, 2006 - UNC-Wilmington 3 Rider 0 / Rider 3 Bucknell 1
September 2, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Volleyball
La Salle Invitational
UNC-Wilmington 3, Rider University 0
Rider University 3, Bucknell University 1
Smith All-Tournament Honors
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Preparation. To be successful later, you need to prepare and set the foundation now.
That was the goal when the 2006 volleyball schedule was setup and that plan is on track. To prepare for the grueling 18-game conference schedule, the Broncs participated in two very tough tournaments, involving back to back matches, early time slots and of course tough opponents.
On Saturday, the Broncs split two matches to go 2-2 in the La Salle Invitational, scoring a four-game win against Bucknell after falling in three games to UNC-Wilmington.
“The first match, we came out lackluster, like we weren’t quite awake yet,” said eight-year head coach Emily Ahlquist. “It is mentally tough playing that early, especially knowing that you have to play another match right after. The second match, we came out and played better and were more focused on what we had to do. It was a very long four-game match.”
Rider (2-5) defeated the Bison 32-30, 21-30, 30-26, 32-30 after falling to the Seahawks 30-32, 29-31, 22-30.
“We are seeing a lot of improvement because they are playing more and more together,” Ahlquist added. “They are getting a feel for each other on the floor and covering the floor much better. We are still tweaking the lineups a little bit and used four different lineups over the weekend. We do have versatile players that allow for changes to be made mid-match if we need to and adjust to what the opponent is doing.”
The Broncs were keyed in both matches by the play of senior Megan Smith (Webster, N.Y./Webster). Smith had 22 kills against Bucknell after recording 11 against UNC-Wilmington. Smith earned all-tournament honors for the third time in her career having been honored in 2004 during the Bronc Cranberry Classic and in 2005 in the Rider Classic.
“I think our intensity stayed up in the second match,” said Smith. “We didn’t get down on ourselves after the morning match. We kept working hard and even when Bucknell tied the match at one game apiece, we didn’t let up and kept coming at them in order to get the win.”
Not finishing the first match mentally cost the Broncs in the morning, a lesson they took to heart and learned from as they played Bucknell in the afternoon.
“Those games were really close and in the first match, we didn’t push through mentally at the end,” Smith added. “What we learned and put into practice in the second match was to push through mentally and physically and that’s going to make us better as the season rolls along. We learned and now we know that we have to be able to play more complete matches, from start to finish. We did that in the second match and pulled out the win in the end.”
Also for the Broncs against the Bison, freshman JoAnna Winter (Hamburg, Minn./Mayer Lutheran) had 44 assists and 16 digs, sophomore Lacey Johnson (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) had a ‘double-double’, the eighth of her career with 14 digs and 12 kills and junior Katrina Stehle (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) added 14 kills. Against UNC-Wilmington, Johnson had 12 kills, eight digs and four services aces with junior Nastasja Avramovic adding 12 digs. Freshman Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary’s) had nine digs and three aces for Rider.
Ahlquist agreed that while a 3-1 tournament would have been nice, the 2-2 mark taught the team some valuable lessons as the young Broncs gained key experience over the weekend.
“You want to get wins but you also need to play close matches against strong competition in order for your team to get better and know where they need to improve, physically and mentally,” Ahlquist said. “You need them to experience things so that when they see them again, they can recognize the situation and adapt faster. Especially with the younger players, being mentally tough is more important.”
Tougher early season experiences await the Broncs as they face Eastern Washington (6-1) on Monday night in the home opener at the Broncs’ Zoo. Just another match to add to a strong foundation.
-RU-
