LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Siena Volleyball team bounced back in a big way—picking up their first Metro win of the season with a confident-looking sweep over host Rider 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 26-24) on Saturday night at Canastra Hammer Arena.
Siena (6-8 overall, 1-1 Metro) was led by junior setter
Abby Edwards, who finished with 27 assists, 13 digs, two aces and three block assists,
Gabrielle Wire added a team-high 12 kills while hitting .269.
Redshirt senior libero
Brooke Malek recorded a team-high 22 digs and added one ace.
Alison Goldberg totaled a team-best six blocks, including one solo block, and added three kills while hitting .429.
Mary Claire Deacy had 10 kills and six digs with three blocks.
Rider (1-10, 0-2) was led by Molly Rohde, who had nine kills and three blocks.
Siena had an 8-2 advantage in aces with three from
Autumn Willmott, two apiece from
Hannah Bowman and Edwards and another from Malek.
Set-by-Set
Siena won the opening set 25-21, creating separation from an 18-18 tie with four consecutive points that included a
Maggie Seymour-Edwards block and two Rider attack errors. Earlier, the Saints opened with a 3-0 start behind a Goldberg kill from Edwards, a Rider attack error and an Edwards ace, then pushed ahead 8-4 after kills from Goldberg and
Hannah Bowman. Rider answered with five straight points to move in front 9-8, but Siena kept responding, getting kills from Wire,
Mary Claire Deacy and Goldberg while the set moved through repeated ties. After Siena's late four-point push made it 22-18, Wire delivered kills for the Saints' 24th and 25th points, both from Edwards, to close the set.
Siena broke open the second set from a 6-6 tie, winning seven of the next eight points behind Bowman's ace, kills from Wire and Edwards, and later a Seymour kill and another Wire finish. Earlier, Siena answered Rider's 2-0 start with a Deacy kill and an
Autumn Willmott ace, then pulled even again at 5-5 on a Bowman kill. After moving ahead 14-7, Siena kept separation with a Deacy kill, a block by Goldberg and Deacy, and an Edwards ace that made it 17-8. Willmott added another ace at 19-9, and Siena closed the set with help from Bowman's late kill before a Rider service error finished a 25-13 Siena win.
Siena overcame a late 24-23 deficit in the third set, getting consecutive kills from Wire before closing the 26-24 win on a Rider attack error. Earlier, Willmott's serve helped Siena turn a 2-1 edge into a 6-1 lead, with her ace following two block-assisted Rider errors involving Goldberg, Bowman and Deacy. Siena kept separation through the middle of the set behind kills from Deacy, Wire and Bowman, but Rider answered from a 20-16 Siena lead with five straight points to move ahead 21-20. Bowman tied it at 21-21, and after Rider reached set point at 24-23, Wire delivered the two late kills that pushed Siena back in front before the final error ended the set.
Up Next
Siena returns to Loudonville to begin a four-match home stand, starting Tuesday at 7 p.m. hosting Marist (7-8, 2-0).
The game will be on SNY regionally as well as on ESPN+.
