For Rider’s Sher, NCAA match against UCLA is all in the family
When the Rider University women’s volleyball team saw it had been drawn against UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, junior Anilee Sher’s phone buzzed immediately.
It was her father.
How could it not be?
Sher’s father, Oren, was an outside hitter on UCLA’s 1989 national champion men’s volleyball team.
“He was kind of keeping it lighthearted, keeping it fun,” Sher said. “This is an awesome accomplishment for us and he’s just excited that we get to go compete against a great team like UCLA. Everyone in my family is really excited and happy. It kind of feels like full circle.”
Rider earned its glamorous matchup with the four-time national champ by storming to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship. The Broncs (74) rolled off six consecutive victories to capture their first ever MAAC title and with it an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will be played entirely in Omaha, Neb., beginning next week.
Rider’s last appearance in the NCAA main draw was 27 years ago.
“Our mental capacity kind of changed to ‘we’re not losing, we want to win the MAAC, we want to do this for our program, we want to do this for the history,’” Sher said. “It’s kind of a weight off our shoulders because we finally did it and we’ve gone through so much together.”
The 2020-21 school year hasn’t been easy on anybody. Volleyball is typically played in the fall, but the impact of COVID-19 delayed the season until winter. Rider contested a conference-only schedule and enters the NCAA Tournament having played the second-fewest games of any team in the field.
The players have been operating in a version of a bubble since August, competing in empty gyms and rarely interacting with anyone outside that environment.
“We had a lot of challenges on and off the court, especially off the court with not being able to see our friends and families,” said sophomore opposite hitter and MAAC Player of the Year Morgan Romano. “When we cheered at the end (of the MAAC final), it showed everything paid off. It’s been hard for everyone, but just having that feeling how it really paid off and everyone making the sacrifices was a feeling that no one has ever had.”
Added Sher: “With the support of our teammates, our coaches and everyone around us just knowing that this is what we’re doing everything for: to be able to compete, to do what we love, it’s worth it. But it’s been really hard. We had to give up a lot of things and make a lot of sacrifices that in other years we’ve never had to do before.”
Sher said the team’s goal of representing the MAAC in the NCAA Tournament hasn’t changed since she arrived on campus even though the program went through a coaching change and the challenges of an abbreviated season.
Second-year coach Jeff Rotondo took over a program that was close — Rider had won at least 10 MAAC games in each of the past five seasons and reached the conference semis in 2018 under Christopher Feliciano before he departed to take over at New Hampshire — and guided them to 12 MAAC victories in his first season, but was upset in the first round of the conference tourney.
“The fact that we were able to do this in a crazy year just means a lot because I have an idea of what these players have gone through,” Rotondo said. “But I actually don’t really know how hard it has been for them to go through this and miss family and bubble and not make other friends on campus. We’re asking them to just stay with each other. I know it’s been very hard and for them to have it end this way, it’s a testament to them and I’m just so thrilled for them.” The season, of course, is not over yet. Rider will be a massive underdog when it steps on the court against UCLA (14-6) next Wednesday in Omaha.
“Anything is possible as long as we go with the right mindset,” Rotondo said. “We know it’s going to be hard. It’s not going to be easy. They are UCLA for a reason. They have history for a reason.” What do the Broncs need to do well? “Everything,” said Sher, who averages 11.64 assists and 2.43 digs per set. “We’re going to have to play an amazing game. We can’t really make errors at all. We’ll watch a lot of film and see what we can do, try and see some of their weaknesses and something we can kind of go after. It’s going to be a really fun game. We’re excited to have the experience to play such an amazing team.”
But who will her father be rooting for? “Definitely Rider,” Sher said, before laughing, “... I hope.”