Sept. 5, 2008

Final Stats

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The Marist volleyball team lost its second straight match Friday afternoon, losing to UNC Greensboro 3-1 (14-25, 25-22, 15-25, 23-25) at the High Point University Classic. Sophomore outside hitter Joanna Foss (Northville, Mich.) led all player with 17 kills and added six digs. Marist, now 1-5 on the season, was outblocked 10.5-0 in the match and was outhit .344-.178.

Junior Alexandra Schultze (Austin, Texas) had 12 kills and hit .280 for Marist. Kelsey Schaefer (Maria Stein, Ohio) added eight kills with a team-high .571 in the match. Libero Emily Brosky (Whitehall, Pa.) led Marist with 15 digs. As a team, the Red Foxes held a 54-50 advantage in digs over UNCG.

Marist took the first two points of the first set, but the Spartans quickly responded with a 14-5 run to take a 14-7 lead. UNCG outhit the Red Foxes .400-.158 in the first set and grew the lead to nine at 20-11 on a service ace from Lisa Fawell. Foss would get a kill on the next point to cut the lead to eight, but that would be as close as Marist would get in the first set.

The two teams traded the lead early in the second set, with the Spartans taking an early 11-7 lead. Sparked by back to back service aces from Lindsey Schmid (Austin, Texas), the Red Foxes came back to tie the match at 11-11. Marist kept UNCG in reach for most of the set, forcing another tie at 18-18. The Red Foxes kept putting pressure on the Spartans hitters and eventually took the lead at 20-19 on an attack error by Kimiko Naito. Marist would not give up the lead, with Dawn Jan (Belleville, N.J.) getting an ace on set point to take the second set 25-22. The Red Foxes hit .323 in the set, committing only three errors.

UNCG (3-2) came out on fire in the third set, taking the first five points and stretching the lead to 13-4. The Spartans hit .269 in the third set, while Marist eight errors to only seven kills put them at a hitting percentage of -.034. The fourth set was more of the same from UNCG, as they jumped out to a 9-4 lead. Marist fought back to within three at 12-9 on two kills and a service ace from Schultz. The Red Foxes kept UNCG in their sights, getting to within two at 17-15 with kills from Foss and Schaefer.

The Spartans lengthened their lead to six at 23-17 on a Schultz error, but Marist would make one more run at UNCG. The Red Foxes went on a 4-0 run powered by Foss and Schultz to get within two at 23-21. Branagan Fuller then gave the Spartans three match points with a kill to give UNCG a 24-21 lead. Marist fought off two match points with a Foss kill and Schmid service ace to make the score 24-23, but could not get the tying point. UNCG took the fourth set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

Fuller led UNCG with 14 kills and added 14 digs in the win. Kayren Finney added 13 kills and a match-high seven blocks, with Kaitlyn Nortz putting in 11 kills with no errors, hitting .688. Kayleigh Knerr led all players with 16 digs.

Marist returns to action at 4:30 p.m. today when the Red Foxes play South Carolina State in their second match at the High Point University Classic.