Sophomore Ece Emrullah set a new season-high 15 kills as the Siena Volleyball team ousted 2021 MAAC Championship finalist Rider in comeback fashion 3-2 on the road Saturday afternoon. The victory marks the third road win for the Saints this season, and the first this season when behind 2-1 in the match.
 
The Saints controlled the pace early, as graduate student Emily Wunder tossed in five kills in the first set while the Green and Gold hit a solid .360. While the Broncs maintained pace with the Saints - even leading 21-20 late in the first – Siena overtook Rider thanks to a Wunder kill and attack error to go up 22-21. From there, the Saints brought home the set 25-23.
 
Rider took the next two sets, with the second coming at a 25-23 score and the third a one-sided 25-16 mark as the Broncs took a 2-1 lead in the match. That led the match into the fourth, as Siena jumped to an early lead. The Saints led 17-12, and saw Rider come back within a point at 22-21. After a timeout, Siena got a key block from Emrullah, leading to a small Siena run capped by a kill from the sophomore to tie up the match at 2-2 and send it to the fifth set.
 
Freshman Emily Wood began the set with a nice run, getting the Saints out to a 3-0 lead. Rider struggled on offense, hitting three attack errors to push the Siena lead to 7-3. The Saints kept their foot on the gas, with Wunder contributing a pair of kills to push the lead to 11-6. Wood came back around through on the serve, as Siena turned away a late Rider run to take the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
 
Wunder finished the day with 13 total kills, while sophomore Sara Wagner fell just short of a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs. Senior Gracie Halley added 22 digs – her seventh match of the season finishing with 20-plus digs. Freshman Kate Heinrich added three blocks. Rider's Morgan Romano led all offensive players with 23 kills.
 
The Saints return to action tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. when they head to Jersey City to take on the Saint Peter's Peacocks.