POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist volleyball team dropped a tough match to visiting Army (25-22, 25-23, 25-17) on Wednesday night at McCann Arena. The Red Foxes were led by six kills apiece from Katie Estes (Saugus, Calif.) and Hanna Stoiberg (Thousand Oaks, Calif.).
The two seniors also had six digs each while Brooke Zywick (Garden City, Mich.) was the team leader in that category with 10 and Gena Russo (Rensselaer, N.Y.) was second with eight. Freshman Kelsey Lahey (Bowling Green, Ohio) had five kills in her first extended playing time of her career, coming in after Grace Hill (Kalamazoo, Mich.) was forced to leave with an injury in the first set. Mackenzie Stephens (Holland, Mich.) had another three blocks, including one solo. Stoiberg and Audra Brady (Allentown, Pa.) each had a team-high 11 assists.
Estes led the Red Foxes (4-3) with four kills in the first set as Marist led most of the way. Trailing 5-2, they used a 5-0 run to take the lead at 7-5 thanks to a service ace by Hill, a solo block by Marisa Gilbert (Pflugerville, Texas) and a kill by Estes. After the Black Knights pulled to within one, the Red Foxes used another streak of four out of five points to pull ahead by four at 12-8. This run was fueled by back-to-back kills by Hill and Estes. Army eventually fought to tie the score at 18, but an attacking error by the Black Knights and a Lahey kill restored the two-point lead. From there however, Army scored seven of the final nine points to take the opening set 25-22.
The second set was much like the first one, with Marist being led by five kills from Stoiberg. Four of those kills, as well as ones from Gilbert and Courtney Shaw (Centennial, Co.) contributed to an early 10-7 lead for the Red Foxes. After Army scored three straight points to tie the score, a kill by Stephens and two Black Knights' attacking errors restored Marist's three-point lead at 13-10. From there however, Army went on an 8-2 run to take an 18-15 lead, and led the rest of the way. The Red Foxes came back to within one on three straight points, including a Stoiberg service ace, but the Black Knights closed out the set at 25-23.
The third set belonged entirely to Army, as the Red Foxes were unable to grab a lead despite three kills by Lahey in the frame. After a 5-1 run by the Black Knights gave them a 9-5 lead, a Lahey kill and a solo block by Stephens got Marist back within two. From there, Army went runs of 6-2 and 5-2 to take control of the set and eventually take it 25-17 to claim the match.
Marist hits the road this weekend for the Hilton Classic hosted by Texas-Arlington. The Red Foxes will play the host Mavericks at 8 p.m. on Friday night. That match will be broadcast live, for free, on Texas-Arlington's website. They will then have matchups on Saturday against Southern Mississippi at 12 p.m. and Northwestern State 5:30 p.m.
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