PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Marist women's volleyball team won its first match of the season on Saturday with a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 25-20) victory over St. Francis (Pa.). The Red Foxes had four players who were in double digits in kills and had a .327 hitting percentage as a team. Additionally, sophomore outside hitter Grace Hill (Portage, Mich.) was named to the All-Tournament Team.
After St. Francis scored the first point, Marist scored the next four on kills by Joanna Foss (Northville, Mich.) and Hanna Stoiberg (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) sandwiched around a Gena Russo (Rensselaer, N.Y.) service ace and a block by Stoiberg and Mackenzie Stephens (Holland, Mich.). From there, the Red Foxes never looked back. St. Francis tied the score at 19 on a service ace by Elizabeth Williams, but Marist scored six of the final nine points, including three kills by Hill to close out the set.
Two kills by Stephens gave the Red Foxes a 8-0 lead to start the second set, but St. Francis would come back to tie the score at 14 on a kill by Lauren Wingard. The teams would swap points until, after a kill by Foss brought Marist within one at 19-18, St. Francis scored five straight points, sparked by three consecutive kills by Williams.
With the score tied at nine in the third set, Marist jumped ahead by scoring seven of the next ten points to take a 16-12 lead. The spurt was sparked by a kill and block from freshman Marisa Gilbert (Pflugerville, Texas). The Red Foxes closed out the set by scoring six of the final eight points, including two more kills by Gilbert.
In the fourth and final set, after St. Francis tied the score at 5, Marist went on a 19-12 run keyed by two kills apiece by Stoiberg and Stephens, to take a commanding 24-17 lead. A St. Francis service errorgave the Red Foxes their first victory of the season.
Foss finished with 12 kills and Gilbert had 11. Stoiberg finished with 12 kills and 9 digs while Hill had 12 and 14. Audra Brady (Allentown, Pa.) had 32 assists and Brooke Zywick (Garden City, Mich.) led the Red Foxes with 16 digs.
Earlier in the day, the Red Foxes lost in straight sets to the University of Pittsburgh (20-25, 20-25, 15-25). Hill had a match-high 13 kills, Brady had 17 assists and Zywick added 10 digs.
In the first set, a service ace by Russo brought the Red Foxes within a point at 13-12, but that is as close as they would get as Pittsburgh scored four straight points. A Leeann Harridsleff (Simi Valley, Calif.) kill cut the Panther's lead to 20-18, but a kill and two aces by Monica Wignot helped propel Pittsburgh to score five of the final seven points to close out the set.
Two Pittsburgh errors and two kills helped Marist jump out to 4-0 lead in the second set. The Red Foxes would extend their lead to 13-6 after a kill by Foss, a block by Stoiberg and Stephens and a service ace by Brady. The lead was erased on a Mechael Guess kill that was part of 15-5 run by the Panthers that left Marist trailing 21-18. A kill by Stephens and another block by Stoiberg and Stephens closed the deficit to 21-20, but another streak of four consecutive points, Pittsburgh's third of the set, provided the final margin.
The third set remained even until a Kayla Burton (Kissimmee, Fla.) kill gave the Red Foxes a brief 11-10 lead. After that however, Pittsburgh scored 15 of the final 19 points to win the final set.
The Red Foxes are back on the road Wednesday night with a 6 p.m. match at Hartford.
