NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - The Marist volleyball team pulled off their biggest win of the season Saturday night with a 3-2 (25-19, 15-25, 27-25, 19-25, 15-13) victory over Iona in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) match.
Katie Estes (Saugus, Calif.) led the Red Foxes with a double double with 15 kills and 15 digs. Kelsey Lahey (Bowling Green, Ohio) had a career-high 14 kills and Mackenzie Stephens (Holland, Mich.) tied her career-high with 12 kills. Brooke Zywick (Garden City, Mich.) had a match-high 36 digs, making it the second time in four matches that she has reached the 30-dig plateau. Audra Brady (Allentown, Pa.) had a season-high 48 assists and 14 digs.
With the score tied at 5-5 in the first set, Marist (6-11, 2-5 MAAC) used a 12-7 run to take a 17-12 lead. Courtney Shaw (Centennial, Co.) started the streak with back-to-back kills. Stephens also had two kills and Becca Jones (Arlington, Va.) had a kill and a service aces. A kill by Marisa Gilbert (Pflugerville, Texas) and two more by Stephens eventually finished the opening set 25-19 in favor of the Red Foxes.
Iona (6-12, 3-3 MAAC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second set forcing an early Marist timeout. Three straight points on another kill and ace by Jones and a kill by Stephens pulled the Red Foxes to within 6-3. After a block by Gilbert and Shaw closed the deficit to two at 8-6, the Gaels went on a 5-2 run to take a 13-8 lead. They used another 6-0 run later in the set to eventually provide the final margin of 25-15.
The third set was a back and forth affair from the start. After Marist took a 4-2 lead on kills by Shaw, Lahey and Stephens and an ace by Gilbert, Iona again scored six straight points to jump ahead 8-4. The Red Foxes eventually fought back to tie the score at 17-17 on back-to-back kills by Estes and Shaw. Three straight points on a kill by Shaw and a block by Shaw and Stephens gave Marist a 22-20 lead. Kills by Shaw and Stephens gave the Red Foxes set point at 24-22, but Iona scored two straight points to tie the score. Consecutive attacking errors eventually gave Marist the set at 27-25.
The fourth set much resembled the second as Iona took a quick 6-1 lead. A kill by Lahey and a block by Stephens and Brady brought Marist to within 18-16, but that is as close as they would get as the Gaels forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-19 win.
The Red Foxes again fell behind 6-2 in the final set, but fought back to knot things up at 7-7 on kills by Estes and Lahey and a block by Gilbert and Estes. Trailing again, this time 12-8, the Red Foxes closed the match on a 7-1 run. Lahey had two kills, Estes and Brady each had one and Brady and Jemma Fadum (Elbert, Co.) teamed up for a block.
Marist finishes out their three match road trip at Fairfield on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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