September 15, 2006 - Rider 3 Manhattan 1
September 15, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Volleyball
Rider University 3, Manhattan College 1
LAWRENCEVILLE—First place! Ok, before we get ahead of ourselves, there are eight freshmen on the roster and only one senior. And there are 17 conference matches to go. But after being picked to finish in a not so flattering 10th place in the MAAC pre-season poll, any time you can spend in the penthouse is ok with the Broncs.
Rider (3-7, 1-0 MAAC) was a winner in four games over Manhattan to open conference play Friday night. The Broncs won 30-19, 29-31, 30-27, 30-26.
“I think we played well, this being the first conference match,” said eight-year head coach Emily Ahlquist. “I think both teams came out a little tight and made some mistakes but we were able to battle and push through and that’s huge, especially when you have a young team.”
In the MAAC, any win is big and defending your home court against any opponent is important in any sport. “Defending your home court is so important,” said Ahlquist. “In any sport, with the travel being so difficult, any win you can get, especially at home makes things that much easier.”
The Broncs jumped out early, walking away with game one by 11 points, winning 30-19.
“We knew that Manhattan would bounce back after we won the first game and that the rest of the match was going to be a battle,” said Ahlquist. “Manhattan battles every opponent on every point and you can’t anything for granted when you are facing them.”
“After we won the first game, we came out a little flat for game two and Manhattan took it to us,” Ahlquist added. “We were down 9-4 and battled rallying to go up 21-19. Normally a 17-10 run wins you a game but not when you get down early.”
Manhattan (2-8, 0-1 MAAC) won the second game 31-29 in a game that featured nine ties and five lead changes.
“I think we knew that Manhattan would battle back,” said junior Katrina Stehle (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) who posted a ‘double-double’ with 16 digs and 11 kills. “We didn’t come out as strong as we needed to and in the MAAC, if you don’t play to your potential and put forth a good effort, the other team is going to win that game and that was a valuable lesson that we learned tonight.”
In game three, the Broncs jumped out to a 4-0 lead and opened up a 14-8 gap before Manhattan rallied with a 21-14 run to make the score 28-27 Rider. The Broncs won the last two points, holding on for the 30-27 win.
“We never stopped focusing and we gave a good effort,” said Ahlquist. “Winning the third game gave us the confidence we needed to finish off the match.”
In game four, the Broncs did exactly what they needed to do, jumping out to a 14-6 lead, staving off the Jaspers final rally of the night holding on for a 30-26 win.
“Anytime we compete, the team gains confidence,” Ahlquist added. “As the season goes along, as we play more games, the team will only get better, just by the competition that we are going to face in the league.”
With the conference schedule opening for the first time in mid-September instead of mid-October, there was concern that nine matches weren’t enough to get the young Broncs ready for the rigors of the MAAC schedule.
“With the competition we faced in the first nine games on our schedule, I had confidence that we would be ready to play tonight,” Stehle added. “We’re a young team but I had faith and I believe in them and we also had the confidence in each other that we would play together and battle through against a tough opponent.”
Stehle also added five blocks for Rider with sophomore Lacey Johnson also posting a ‘double-double’ with 21 digs and 12 kills. Freshman setter JoAnna Winter (Hamburg, Minn./Mayer Lutheran) had 44 assists with fellow rookie Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary’s) adding 23 digs.
Senior Meghan Smith (Webster, N.Y./Webster) had 15 kills, freshman Brittany Hayes (Mitchelleville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) had 11 kills and junior Nastasja Avramovic (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) had 19 digs for the Broncs.
“Everyday in practice we work hard,” Stehle added. “That effort paid off tonight in how we played,” Stehle added.
A nice balanced effort with a lineup that included four rookies.
“We saw a good opportunity opening at home, considering where we were picked in the league,” Stehle said. “We knew with the talent in the league that we would have to play strong, every game, every match, every night and that’s what the league is about. We know we are going to surprise some people because we are more talented than people realize. We just have to perform each time out.”
At least for one night, the Broncs get to enjoy the view from above, sitting in first place entering the Saturday afternoon match against the Stags from Fairfield.
-RU-
