October 21, 2006 - Siena 3 Rider 0
October 21, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Volleyball
Siena College 3, Rider University 0
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y.—A glance at the past may help in the future. On a day that saw Siena get its 2005 conference championship rings in front of a loud crowd of over 150, the young Broncs saw what a championship team looks like. Unfortunately, Rider still had to play them.
The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match at Siena on Saturday afternoon with the Saints sweeping three games from Rider (7-14, 5-7 MAAC) for the second time in three weeks, winning 31-29, 30-13, 30-25.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” said assistant coach Michelle Walsh. “We didn’t play well and didn’t capitalize off any mistakes that Siena made.”
For the Broncs, sophomore Lacey Johnson (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) had 12 digs with freshman JoAnna Winter (Hamburg, Minn./Mayer Lutheran) adding 12 assists.
“The team was very positive after losing the first game by two points,” said Walsh. “Then Siena came out and played almost a perfect game, winning by 17 points,”
Freshman Shannon Bures (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) had 11 assists for Rider.
“Siena (13-11, 9-2 MAAC) is a very strong team,” said Walsh. “We didn’t play any kind of defense in the final two games. And we couldn’t put together any type of offense.”
The Broncs have lost three straight and this is the first conference weekend that Rider hasn’t gained at least a split in the two MAAC matches, having dropped a five-set match at Manhattan Friday night.
“There were a lot of parallels from when we played the Saints three weeks ago,” Walsh added. “They serve tough, their setters are very good, their middles are very quick and we didn’t stop them again.”
Rider lost to the Saints 3-0 on October 1 and haven’t defeated the Saints since the 2004 season, when the Broncs posted a 3-0 win to qualify for the MAAC tournament.
“Siena came out with a lot of emotion,” Walsh added. “They had their ring ceremony and a lot of former players returned to see the 2006 version of the Saints and they did not disappoint. With eight freshmen on the Rider squad, it was a good learning experience to see some of the things that make up a championship program and all of the players can take something out of the experience today and play stronger and hungrier in future matches.”
The Broncs travel to Poughkeepsie, New York to face Marist in a MAAC match on Friday, October 27.
-RU-
