Despite a season-best .309 hitting percentage from the Siena Volleyball team, the Saints were greatly outscored in service as Rider pulled a 3-0 victory (25-18, 26-24, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon inside Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, NJ.   

Siena (4-14 overall, 3-4 MAAC) upped their marked for a season-best in team hitting percentage just one day after resetting the standard when it hit .281 in Saturday's sweep over Saint Peter's.  On Sunday, Siena was even more efficient, hitting .309 on the day.

However, a major factor in the match became the disparity in serving with the Broncs (7-12, 6-1 MAAC) holding a 13-1 advantage in aces. 

The Saints fought close, but dropped each set down the stretch.  In particular, the second set was the closest as Siena was able to tie it at 24-all but lost 26-24.  It marked the 22^nd set this season in which the Saints lost a set by four points or fewer. 

Siena took a 5-1 lead in the first set, but then allowed an 8-0 run by Rider to fall behind 9-5 behind the serving of Molly Rohde, who had two service aces during that stretch.   Ryley Frye was able to close the set on consecutive aces. 

Rider jumped out a 7-1 advantage in the third set, strongly aided once again by the strong service with three more aces from Frye. Siena battled back with a 5-0 run spearheaded by Olga Sawinska's two kills, and one each from Sina Toroslu and Hannah Bowman to cut the lead to 16-15, causing a Rider timeout.

A kill by Saints' senior Sara Wagner made it 19-18, before Rider closed it out with six straight points with three kills coming from Paige Giehtbrock.
Sawinska hit a season-high .643 with nine kills on 14 total attack and committed no errors.    

Next up, Siena returns to the UHY Center for a three-match home stand beginning this Wednesday against cross town rival UAlbany (6-11) at 6 p.m. 

Fans in attendance will receive a free Siena water bottle as part of the "Water Bottle Wednesday" promotion while supplies last.