POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist volleyball could not overcome a slow start, falling to a tough Fairfield team 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) Wednesday night in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) match at McCann Arena.
Hanna Stoiberg (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) led the Red Foxes with five kills and also had nine assists and five digs. Mackenzie Stephens (Holland, Mich.) was second on the team with four kills and had a block. Brooke Zywick (Garden City, Mich.) had a team-high eight digs and Becca Jones (Arlington, Va.) was second with six. Audra Brady (Allentown, Pa.) had 11 assists.
Fairfield, the MAAC preseason favorite took control early, taking a 10-3 in the first set. Marist (5-10, 1-4 MAAC) pulled to within five points at 12-7 on kills by Jones and Stoiberg sandwiched around two kills by Stephens. That would be as close as the Red Foxes would get however as Fairfield (8-7, 3-2 MAAC) scored 13 of the final 17 points to win the opening set 25-11.
In the second set, with the Red Foxes leading 2-1 on a kill by Stoiberg and a Stags' error, Fairfield went on a 15-4 run to take command of the set at 16-6. Marist could not pull any closer than seven the rest of the set as Fairfield won 25-16.
The third set was much of the same as the Stags jumped out to a 13-4 lead. The Red Foxes closed to within six at 16-10, but a 9-6 run closed the set and the match for Fairfield.
The Red Foxes are back on the road for the next three matches starting with a contest at Siena on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m.
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