NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Strong play at the net created a 3-1 (15-25, 25-14, 18-25, 19-25) win for visiting Ride this afternoon against the Iona College volleyball team during the first of back-to-back home MAAC matches this weekend for the Gaels. 

Claire Archibald tallied a match-high 17 kills in the effort for the Maroon & Gold (8-14, 6-4 MAAC) to go along with nine digs and two aces. Tess Connolly and Mia Bonsignore both joined Archibald with double-digit kills as Connolly provided 12 kills on a .296 hitting percentage in addition to 14 digs and an ace while Bonsignore provided 11 kills on a .450 percentage. Emma Rose paced the offense with 36 assists and added five digs on defense. Freshmen Taylor Cole and Jamie Smith eached served for three aces.

In addition to posting a team hitting percentage of .312, the Broncs (11-10, 5-4 MAAC) also notched seven team blocks with Evelyn Shanefield leading the way with four block assists. Perr Williams added one solo block and two assists to her 10 kills on a .529 percentage. Savannah Logan led Rider with 13 kills on a .500 hitting percentage while Hailey Riede contributed 11 kills and two block assists.

Rider jumped out to a 10-3 advantage in the opening set as the visitors went on to finish with a .480 hitting percentage, led by four kills from Riede. Iona cut into the deficit at 10-13, however following a Rider timeout, the Broncs outscored the Gaels 12-5 to end the set and take a 1-0 lead. Archibald led all individuals with five kills while Veronica Koval set 12 assists for Rider.

Looking to even the match at 1-1 in the second set, the Gaels committed just one attacking error in the frame to attack for 18 kills and a .654 percentage. Connolly led the set with five kills while Archibald and Bonsignore each added four as Rose totaled 13 assists. The Gaels continuously built the advantage throughout the set, creating the largest margin of the game at 11 points on the final point behind a Bonsignore kill. 

Shanefield and Koval helped Rider take a 2-1 lead following the third set with three block assists each to hold Iona to a .054 percentage. The Broncs turned a 10-7 deficit into a 13-10 advantage during a 6-0 run that included four attacking errors from the Gaels. Another 5-0 stretched the margin to 20-13 before Riede put the finishing touches on the 25-18 win with her first kill of the frame. Logan connected on four kills throughout her eight attempts. Connolly kept the Iona attack alive during the set with seven digs.

Opening the set leading 7-1, Rider's lead shortened later in the set to one point at 19-18 to force a timeout. Following the timeout, Rider scored six of the final seven points of the match to close out the victory. Williams picked up two kills during the final spurt before Jennifer Borio connected for her ninth kills of the evening. 

Iona closes out the weekend on Sunday afternoon by hosting Saint Peter's for a 2:00 pm start from the Hynes Center.