November 17, 2006 - #7 Saint Peter's 3 #8 Rider 1 (MAAC's)
November 17, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Volleyball
#7 Saint Peter’s 3, #8 Rider University 1
MAAC Championships
ORLANDO, FLA.—The Rider season came to an end at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida on Friday.
The Broncs lost to Saint Peter’s in four games with the Peahens winning 21-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-27.
“We started slow in game one and then turned it on and were able to win the game,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist who completed her eighth season at Rider. “It was hard fought match by both teams and it was a fun match. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out on the winning side. It wasn’t our day but it wasn’t for a lack of effort or a lack of skill. Things just didn’t break for us in the match.”
For Rider (8-21), sophomore Lacey Johnson (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) posted her 15th ‘double-double’ of the season with 14 digs and 12 kills. Johnson added three service aces.
“I was proud with the way we battled,” said Johnson. “It’s upsetting to end on a loss but I’m not disappointed with the effort that the whole team did today. We fought and didn’t give up.”
Freshman JoAnna Winter (Hamburg, Minn./Mayer Lutheran) had 44 assists, fellow rookie Alex Chapla (Aliquippa, Pa./Center Area) finished one off a career-high with 14 kills and had four blocks with senior Megan Smith (Webster, N.Y./Webster), in her final match compiling 14 kills, eight digs and five blocks.
“We pushed hard to win the first game,” said Chapla who finished the match with a .478 attack percentage. “It just didn’t seem to be our day. We played hard and battled but Saint Peter’s was just a little better and won the match.”
Freshman Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary’s) added 11 digs for the Broncs.
“We knew this year would be rough with all the new players learning the system,” Ahlquist added. “We gained a tremendous amount of experience and that’s going to make us stronger next year. We need to train harder in the off-season and believe that we can play better. A lot of what we battled through this season was mental more than physical. The league is very even and we’ve made strides being competitive but our record doesn’t show the result that we wanted. With everyone back but our one senior, we’re going to be that much stronger next season.”
This was the third time this season that Saint Peter’s defeated Rider.
“Overall the season could have gone better,” Chapla added. “With eight freshmen, people expected us to do what we did and we know better. We know we could have played better and finished stronger and our goal is to win a conference championship in the next three seasons, with the core of this group together.”
“The experience of being in the MAAC’s sets the tone for next season,” Johnson added. “Our expectations are that we can compete with any team in the league and we expect to qualify for the four-team tournament next season. Even though our record doesn’t reflect it, we have closed the gap with the rest of the league.”
-RU-
