Volleyball faces stretch of six crucial matches

By Amanda Thorogood

Matches that would ordinarily be no more than minor blips on Rider’s volleyball radar have now become monumentally important.

A 3-0 defeat at defending MAAC champion Siena (10-2 overall, 14-11 in MAAC) on Oct. 21 has the Broncs (7-14 overall, 5-7 MAAC) on the verge of dropping frighteningly in the standings. They have lost three in a row dating back to Oct. 16 and have moved down from fourth place to fifth. Manhattan (9-14 overall, 6-6 MAAC) holds the fourth spot by a single game.

The recent slide has many skeptics questioning whether the team will be able to pull through come tournament time; nonetheless, the players proclaim they have no time to listen to negative feedback.

“We’ve definitely had our ups and downs this season,” said freshman defensive specialist/outside hitter Jennifer Landis. “We weren’t expected to do well in conference because there are eight new players this year. Even so, we have proved that we can play along with everyone else.”

With three weeks of conference play left before the MAAC Championships in Florida, the Broncs are keen on moving up in the standings. Such a task will be challenging, however, with remaining games against top-seeded Fairfield (14-6 overall, 11-0 MAAC), Manhattan, Saint Peter’s (11-17 overall, 4-8 in MAAC) and Loyola (6-21 overall, 4-8 in MAAC).

“As a team, we need to come together like one,” said freshman middle hitter Alex Chapla. “We need to be on top of our game in order to stay in the top half of the rankings.”

The team has been wildly inconsistent in 2006. They have had a multiple-game winning streak, beaten quality teams such as Manhattan and have thoroughly flabbergasted the same coaches that forecasted them to finish last in the standings.

On the other hand, they have also had several multiple-game losing streaks, been outshined and outperformed by powerhouses such as Canisius (16-8 overall, 10-3 in MAAC) and Fairfield, and are ranked near the bottom in hitting percentage, assists and blocks.

Altogether, these stats have left many to question which unit is the real Rider team.

“We really don’t even know as to why that happens,” said Chapla, who had 14 kills and seven blocks in a 3-2 loss to Canisius on Oct. 16. “We come out some days ready to play and that is when we do well and win, but then we have our days when we just can’t do anything. We come out slow and not excited at all for the match and that is when we don’t pull through.”

According to Landis, the Broncs are not getting ahead of themselves and are approaching the current situation with a “one game at a time” mentality. The realization that such a high seeding is within reach has escalated the pressure in the locker room.

“In the regular season we are able to play every team twice, so if we didn’t win the first match, we have the opportunities to beat them in a second match,” said Landis, who in just her seventh collegiate match and 16th game of the season collected a pair of scoring aces in a 3-1 win over Marist on Oct. 7. “But during the MAAC Tournament, we face single elimination. There is no coming back after a team loses.”

The Broncs face Marist on Friday, Oct. 27, and Loyola on Saturday, Oct. 28, whom they will play again in the second-to-last game of the season.