NEW ROCHELLE, New York – The Marist volleyball team suffered a hard fought 3-2 loss at the Iona College Gaels on Saturday.
SUMMARY:
The Red Foxes fell behind early, as the Gaels took the first set. Both teams came out relative evenly matched and after 16 points, it was tied 8-8. Iona took 12 of the next 17 points to take a 20-13 lead before Marist trimmed the deficit to 20-16. With the Gaels up 24-18, the Red Foxes reeled off four straight points to bring it to 24-22 but after an Iona timeout, a Gael kill gave them the first set victory.
In the second set, Marist took seven of the first 11 points to gain an early 7-4 lead. Iona tied it up at 9-9 but the Red Foxes answered with four point run to take a 13-9 lead. After the Gaels trimmed the deficit to 17-15, Marist rallied with a 5-0 run for the 22-15 lead and held on for the eventual 25-17 victory.
Iona jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the third set before the Red Foxes evened the score at 6-6 with a three point run. The Gaels answered by winning five of the next six points but Marist answered right back with its own five point run to take a 12-11 lead. Iona then regained the lead at 14-13 and won 11 of the next 17 points to secure the 25-19.
Building off the back and forth nature of the match up to that point, both teams traded points to open the fourth set and after 14 points it was all tied up at 7-7. The Red Foxes answered with a run to take a 15-12 lead before the Gaels tied it up with a 3-0 run to even the score at 15-15. With their backs against the wall and needing to win the set to extend the match, Marist went on a 10-6 run to close out the fourth set with a 25-21 win.
In a winner take all fifth set that would determine seeding for the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship, Iona jumped out to a 9-4 lead. Marist trimmed the deficit to three at 10-7 but it was the Gaels who closed out the final frame with a 5-2 run take the final set 15-9 and the match 3-2.
KEY STATS:
- Iona finished with 58 kills to the Red Foxes 49
- Marist finished with just 22 errors to the Gael's 26
- Iona finished with a .230 hitting percentage while the Red Foxes had a .206 hitting percentage
GAME NOTES:
- Sophomore Megan Fergus has a team high 12 kills
- Senior Kelsey Ediger finished with 9 kills to give her 996 career kills, just four shy of the 1,000 career kill milestone
- Junior Taylor Van Der Biezen had a team high 5 aces, 38 assists and 15 digs
QUOTE:
"It is quite frustrating to have a team that can be incredibly dominant when they choose to be" said head coach
Lauren Amundson. "Iona outplayed us today and we're looking for a better showing tomorrow at Manhattan."
UP NEXT:
Marist wraps up the 2017 regular season when they travel to the Manhattan Jaspers on Sunday at 1 PM.
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