POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. –The Marist volleyball team rolled to a pair of 3-0 victories on Saturday to defend its title as the Volley in the Valley Champions. The Red Foxes defeated both Hartford (25-18, 25-21, 25-15) and UMass Lowell (25-10, 25-12, 25-17) in straight sets at McCann Arena.

Junior Mackenzie Stephens (Holland, Mich.) was named the Tournament MVP after leading Marist with 27 kills and 12 blocks in the weekend's three matches. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team was senior Audra Brady (Allentown, Pa.), junior Brooke Zywick (Garden City, Mich.) and sophomore Courtney Shaw (Centennial, Co.).

First Match: Marist 3 – Hartford 0…

Shaw led Marist with nine kills and Marisa Gilbert (Pflugerville, Texas) and Grace Hill (Kalamazoo, Mich.) each had six. Gilbert also added three blocks, including a solo one, to tie for the team lead with Stephens. On the defensive side, Zywick finished with 11 digs, followed closely by Becca Jones (Arlington, Va.) who had 10. Brady had a total of 25 assists to go along with four kills and six digs. Marist closed out the match with a hitting percentage of .280 led by Brady (.667), Gilbert (.556) and Shaw (.389).

The first set started out as a back and forth game for the first few points. Hartford pulled ahead 5-2, but a kill from Brady began a 7-1 run for Marist (3-3) to give the hosts a 9-6 lead. Kills by Shaw and Kelsey Lahey (Bowling Green, Ohio) a Gena Russo (Rensselaer, N.Y.) service ace padded the Red Foxes' lead to 15-9.  From then on, Marist was up by at least three points. Kills from five different players helped Marist end the set on a 10-3 run and Brady ace ended the set.

Hartford started out on a 3-0 run in the beginning of the second set, and led by as much as 9-4 before Marist began to mount a comeback. The Red Foxes eventually knotted the score at 17-17, as they went on a streak of five consecutive points to take a 19-17 advantage. Hill had two kills to lead the run. After Hartford tied things back up, back-to-back kills by Hill and Gilbert, and two Hawks' errors led to a 23-19 Marist lead. Another Gilbert kill and a block from Stephens and Shaw gave the Red Foxes a 2-0 lead in the match.

A close game in the beginning, the third set began with neither team having a lead more than three points. The-back-and-forth play was briefly halted when an error by Hartford put the Red Foxes ahead 11-7. Hartford then went on a 4-1 run to bring them within one point, but a kill from Brady again pulled Marist out of reach. Gilbert and Shaw fueled a 10-1 Marist run to end the match as each contributed a kill and a teamed up for a joint block. Freshman Liz Gassman (Glenside, Pa.) provided the final point of the match with her first career kill.

Second Match: Marist 3 – UMass Lowell 0…

Freshman Amanda Bradley (East Haven, Conn.) was nearly perfect, finishing with a match-high eight kills, entering the match midway in the second set. Gilbert was right behind her with seven kills and Stephens had six. Amanda Schlegel (Austin, Texas) played the final two sets and had 24 assists and Zywick had a match-high 21 digs. Lexi Millington (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had six service aces. Marist hit .337 as a team, as compared to the River Hawks' -.067. The Red Foxes also had 10 blocks as a team, led by six from Gassman. All 15 active players for Marist entered the match.

The Red Foxes blew open the first set with a 9-0 run with Millington serving as she had four aces in the set. Stephens had all six of her kills in the opening frame.

Marist scored the first four points of the second set, as Shaw had two kills, Gilbert had one and the tow teamed for a combination block. Leading 8-4, the Red Foxes used another huge run, this time scoring 13 of 14 points to take a 21-5 lead. Gassman had two kills and two blocks to lead the charge. Hill and Lahey each had two kills and Millington had another two service aces.

Bradley had seven of her kills in the third set as Marist emptied its bench. Freshman Devon Dawson (Frisco, Texas), Gilbert and Jones each had three.

Marist heads back on the road for the Crosstown Tournament, hosted by Lehigh and Lafayette. The Red Foxes will play Lafayette at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13 before playing both St. Francis (N.Y.) and Lehigh on Saturday.

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