JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Marisa Gilbert (Pflugerville, Texas) had eight kills, a .667 hitting percentage and was one of three Red Foxes with four total blocks, as the Marist volleyball team defeated Saint Peter's in straight sets (25-16, 25-13, 25-10) on Saturday afternoon in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) match at the Yanitelli Center.
Overall, the Red Foxes has nine team blocks, expanding their MAAC lead in that category, as Kayla Burton (Kissimmee, Fla.) and Hanna Stoiberg (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) also had four total blocks apiece. Gilbert tied with Grace Hill (Portage, Mich.) for match-high honors with eight kills. Stoiberg and Joanna Foss (Northville, Mich.) each had seven kills and hitting percentages of at least .500 as Marist hit at a .390 clip for the match. Brooke Zywick (Garden City, Mich.) had a match-high 11 digs and Audra Brady (Allentown, Pa.) had 15 assists. Becca Jones (Arlington, Va.) had the first two kills of her collegiate career as every healthy player for the Red Foxes got into the match and recorded a statistic.
Marist started hot right out of the gate in the first set, taking a 2-0 lead on a solo block by Burton and a kill by Foss. Saint Peter's took their only lead of the match with a 7-2 run to take a 7-4 lead, but the Red Foxes would quickly respond. Kills by Gilbert and Hill sandwiched a service ace by Stoiberg to tie the score at seven and a block by Gilbert and Leeann Harridsleff (Simi Valley, Calif.) got the lead back at 8-7. After points were traded, Marist went on a 13-6 run to grab a commanding 22-15 lead. Foss, Stoiberg and Gilbert all had two kills in the run and Harridsleff and Hill each had one. After a Saint Peter's kill, three consecutive errors by the Peahens gave the set to the Red Foxes 25-16. Marist had a .407 hitting percentage for the set.
The second set belonged to the Red Foxes from the beginning, as they opened the frame with an 11-2 run that included three kills by Hill and two Gilbert/Stoiberg blocks. The closest the Peahens could get was six at 16-10 before Marist went on a 6-0 run that included two kills by Stephanie Robinett (Sugar Land, Texas) surrounding a solo block by Gilbert and three Saint Peter's errors. A service ace by Robinett and kill by Harridsleff helped close the set at 25-13.
The third set saw much of the same tendencies as two Brady service aces and a kill by Foss opened the frame. With the score 9-6 in Marist's favor, the Red Foxes went on back-to-back runs of three and six straight points to take control at 18-7. Katie Estes (Saugus, Calif.) was one if five different Red Foxes to record a kill in the streak. Another run of five consecutive points, including kills by Gilbert and Jones and a service ace by Burton, finished the set and the match.
Marist returns to action tomorrow with another road match against Manhattan at 2 p.m.
