Nov. 15, 2014 Final Stats
Sonja Vasovic had 11 kills and
Kiara Pierre added five aces as Siena steamrolled past Rider in straight sets (25-19, 25-13 and 25-19) Saturday in Lawrenceville. It was the fifth straight win for the surging Saints who locked down a top-two MAAC finish and subsequent bye into the quarterfinals of the upcoming Championships.
Siena (15-14, 13-4) will likely enter the Tournament as the league's hottest team. They close out the regular-season at Saint Peter's Sunday needing a win and a Marist loss to claim a share of the regular-season crown. Regardless, Siena will be the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships and open play Thursday at 5 p.m. at the HP Field House inside Disney's Wide World of Sport Complex against the winner of the No. 7 vs. No 10 match earlier that day.
Saturday's match showed why the Saints are perhaps the most dangerous team in the conference. They kept Rider (17-14, 10-7) off balance with their service all afternoon, just as they did in a similarly convincing sweep of the upstart Broncs in Loudonville last month.
Pierre led the charge with five aces and served several long runs, and Vasovic, Bobbi Lin Kalama, Erin Bies and Haley Howell all triggered big runs with their serves too.
Meanwhile, the Saints' offense displayed the balance it has continued to develop as the season nears its climax. Vasovic had just one error in her 21 swings on the outside, emerging junior Christina Monroe killed six of her 10 attacks without an error in the middle, and Rachel Stoklosa and Meghann Wright each had nine kills on the outside. Howell assisted on 35 of Siena's 41 kills and added nine digs as her defense continues to improve.
Speaking of defense, Siena out-blocked Rider 8-2 and out-dug the Broncs 46-34 behind Kalama. The Saints' libero posted match-high digs (14) for the 14th time in 17 MAAC matches this season.
Kayla Wong led Rider with seven kills. The Broncs have dropped three of four conference matches after starting MAAC play 9-4.
Siena's top-two MAAC regular-season finish is its best since 2008 when it won its last of four straight conference championships. The Saints were picked a distant fourth in the preseason conference coaches' poll, just two points ahead of fifth place Manhattan.
