PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Fairleigh Dickinson volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday at the Friar Classic, falling to Rider 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 16-25) and the host Providence 3-0 (20-25, 21-25, 14-25).
 
Rider 3, Fairleigh Dickinson 1
(25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 16-25)
 
Playing their earliest start time slot of the season – first serve at 9:00 a.m. – the Knights opened the Friar Classic against the Rider Broncs (4-5).
 
Off of their thrilling victory on Wednesday over Quinnipiac, the Knights opened Saturday by taking the first set from the Broncs. The frame was tied at 19-19 until the Knights rattled off three straight points, highlighted by an ace from senior Taylor Wyckoff. A kill by Magdalena Makismovic gave the Knights' set point and the win came after a service error by the Broncs.
 
In the second set, led by a pair of kills from sophomore Erika Sullivan, the Knights raced out to a 6-1 advantage. The Broncs chipped away and cut it to 7-6 aided by two kills from Perry Williams.
 
Later in the frame, kills by Wyckoff and Makismovic broke a 19-19 tie and put the Knights in front by two. But the Broncs answered with three straight points via kills by Williams and a service ace from Brynn Sherbert. Now leading by one, the Broncs closed the set by scoring three of the last four points and evened the match at 1-1.
 
The third set saw the Knights erase an early 7-5 deficit by pressuring the Broncs into four consecutive attack errors and a kill by freshman Nataliya Rybakova resulting in a three-point lead.
 
Tied at 18-18, the Broncs caught fire with six straight points including two kills by Savannah Logan, which put the set out of reach and gave them a 2-1 lead. With momentum squarely in their favor, the Broncs continued to roll as they captured a 7-1 cushion in the fourth set en route to the comfortable 25-16 match-clinching victory.
 
In the loss, Makismovic registered a new career-best 16 kills, while freshman setter McKenna Setterlund handed out 41 assists.
 
These two teams will also square off this Tuesday, September 12 at the Rothman Center.
 
Providence 3, Fairleigh Dickinson 0
(20-25, 21-25, 14-25)
 
The Knights closed the day against the unbeaten Friars (10-0), who continued their excellent play to start the season by taking the match in straight sets.
 
In the first set, the Knights logged their highest attack percentage of the match at .225, committing just three errors along the way.
 
The host Friars quickly erased a 3-0 deficit by scoring six-straight points. Trailing 17-13, a pair of kills by Sullivan and one by Annabel Reyes, helped the Knights pull even at 17-17, however, the Friars responded by scoring four of the next five points to capture a 21-18 edge as they held on for the first-set victory.
 
The second frame saw the Friars run out to a 12-6 lead aided by three service aces from Allison Barber. Down 17-12, the Knights fought back valiantly with eight unanswered tallies to take a 20-17 lead. Freshman defensive specialist Jamie Rogers served as the catalyst, serving all eight points including one ace.
 
Despite the lead late in the set, the Knights were unable to hold off a huge surge by the Friars, which saw the home team score eight of the final nine points of the set to take a 2-0 lead. Jenae Alderson racked up three kills over that span to propel the Friars.
 
After the Knights held a 13-11 lead in the final set, the Friars again answered with a huge run, this time notching 13 straight points as they closed out the victory. The massive spurt was propelled by strong serving of Addison Root and two kills by Alderson.
 
Sullivan paced the Knights in the loss with seven kills, while Wyckoff and Makismovic each tallied five. Reyes led all players in the match with four blocks and Wyckoff added 12 digs to her ledger.