Senior setter Makenna Mason preparing to set the ball. Photo courtesy of Faith Capolupo.

Rider falls for eighth straight to end road trip

4 hours ago

8 2 minutes read

By Lindsay Scarola

Rider volleyball ended their early season road trip, falling to the University of Pennsylvania, 3-0, and losing its last non-conference game before Metro play.

Station shutdown

The Broncs jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the opening set against the Quakers on Sept. 16 behind a kill and a block from senior right side Anja Kelly.

Penn would respond back by having an 8-0 run to take the lead by six over Rider, who ended that sequence with a kill from sophomore middle blocker Annabell Zachritz.

Trailing 10-4, the Broncs needed a quick run to cut into Penn’s lead. A Quaker’s service error, followed by an ace from freshman libero Olivia DeSaro and another attack error by Penn, brought the Broncs within three.

However, the Quakers answered with a 6-1 run, where a kill from senior outside hitter Rylah Robinson split it up into a pair of three-point runs.

In that sequence, the Quakers had doubled their lead against the Broncs, 16-8.

Rider continued to battle back through a 6-1 run in response started by a pair of errors.

Then, senior middle hitter Molly Rohde produced kills on the Broncs’ next three points as the run closed with junior outside hitter Aubrey Baker getting the final kill.

Despite their challenge, Penn closed out the opening set, 25-18.

The Broncs tried to hold Penn in set two, as they were only down 6-4, but the Quakers scored four-straight to go up 11-4.

The Quakers continued to build momentum, using a 6-1 run after leading 11-6 to pull away on a 6-1 run and take a 2-0 lead in sets.

The third set followed a similar pattern to the first two, with the score tied at three early.

Penn continuing the trend, seized control with a 6-1 run to build an early advantage.

Holding a 13-8 advantage, the Quakers closed out the match with a dominant 12-3 run.

Penn secured the 25-11 set victory, Rider losing its final out-of-conference game of the 2026 season.

With conference play approaching, Rohde expressed what improvement is needed moving forward as a team.

“I think, defensively, we need to focus on communicating more and trusting each other. Against Penn, there were moments where we could have been more disciplined and worked better together as a unit,” Rohde said.

Completing a trio of invitationals and their non-conference run with a 1-8 record, the Broncs hope to take lessons into Metro play.

Head Coach Jeff Rotondo also emphasized what the Broncs will need to focus on moving forward for conference matchups.

“Serve and pass for sure, we need to be better at staying in system and getting other teams off the nets with their offense. As we head into conference play … we need to definitely be more resilient and convicted in our goals and confidence,” Rotondo said.

Now with all their scheduled non-Metro games out of the way, Rider will return home in the newly renamed Canastra Hammer Arena.

The Broncs will have back-to-back home games against Marist University on Sept. 25 and Siena University on Sept. 26 for two 6 p.m. matches, which will be streamed on ESPN+, and then the Broncs will travel to Saint Peter’s University on Sept. 29 for another 6 p.m. matchup.