RIVERDALE, New York – The Marist volleyball team wrapped up the 2017 regular season with a 3-1 win at the Manhattan Jaspers on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Red Foxes wrap up the regular season with a 14-15 (11-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) record and have earned the #4 seed in the MAAC Championship which will be held at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT next Thursday-Sunday.

SUMMARY:

Marist opened the match, winning the first three points in the first set. The Jaspers answered winning the next four points to take the early lead but the Red Foxes answered with a 6-2 run to secure the 10-5 advantage. Manhattan quickly answered with a 9-2 run of its own to take a 14-12 lead but the Red Foxes bounced back, winning 13 of the next 19 points to secure the 25-20 first set victory.

The second set opened with back-and-forth action and after eight points was tied 4-4. The Jaspers then reeled off a 10-2 run to take a 14-6 lead but Marist answered with an 11-3 run of its own to bring the set to 20-17 Manhattan. However, the Jaspers quickly rebounded and took the set by a 25-19 final score.

The Red Foxes jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the third set and followed that up with an 8-4 run to extend their lead to 18-10. Manhattan managed to trim the deficit a little bit but Marist held on for the 25-16 set victory.

The fourth set began much like the first, with back-and-forth action and after 16 points it was all tied up at 8-8. The Red Foxes edged out to a 13-10 lead but Manhattan answered back with a 5-2 run to gain the 15-13 advantage. Marist battled back and tied up the set at 19-19 and then jumped out to a 24-22 lead with double set point. The Jaspers won the next two points to knot things up at 24-24 and then both teams traded points until the set was tied up at 30-30. In the longest set of the season for the Red Foxes, it was finally service ace by freshman Sarah Austin and a kill by junior Lauren Waide sealed the 32-30 victory for Marist.

KEY STATS:

• The Red Foxes finished with 53 kills to Manhattan's 43
• The Jaspers had only 27 errors to Marist's 28
• The Red Foxes finished with a .170 hitting % while Manhattan finished with a .122 hitting %
• Marist had 68 points to the Jasper's 59.5
• The Red Foxes had 9 aces while Manhattan had 5
• The Jaspers had 57 digs to Marist's 52

GAME NOTES:

• Sophomore Nikki DeSerpa finished with a career high 23 kills on the afternoon
• Senior Kelsey Ediger recorded her 1,000^th career kill to increase her hold on 7^th place in program history
• Junior Taylor Van Der Biezen finished with 48 assists, the second most she's recorded this season

QUOTE:

"We leaned on Nikki today and she carried us through" said head coach Lauren Amundson. "We are looking forward to a challenging tournament starting with a rematch versus Rider on Friday! I'm so proud of Kelsey for surpassing the 1,000 career kill milestone because she is an athlete who works hard day in and day out to compete at the highest level and that work pays off. She is by far one of the most consistent, well rounded volleyball players I've ever had the opportunity to work with."

UP NEXT:

Next up the #4 Red Foxes will enter the 2017 MAAC Championship and will square off against the #5 Rider Broncs on Friday at Fairfield Univeristy's George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall (8 PM).