POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist volleyball team suffered a tough 3-2 loss to the Canisius Golden Griffins on Saturday afternoon in what was a hard-fought battle by both teams. Despite, the Red Foxes forcing a fifth set with a convincing victory in set four, Marist could not escape with the win.
The Red Foxes are now 6-11 on the season, and 4-3 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins remain undefeated in the conference and improve to 6-0 in the MAAC and 9-9 overall.
- Marist got off to a quick start in the first set, taking seven of the first 11 points behind four kills from Sarah Austin and three kills from Megan Fergus. Canisius battled back to tie the set at 10, but the Red Foxes were able to re-take the lead 14-10 after two straight kills from Madelyn Waumans and kills from Fergus and Halle Carter. Marist's lead was at 21-19 when they scored four straight points, capped by a service ace from Sophia Theriot, to win the set 25-19.
- Canisius came out firing in the second set, and the Marist defense looked a little slow in response. The Griffs opened on a 7-2 run, and that was really the only cushion they would need the rest of the way. The Golden Griffins evened the match at 1-1 after taking the second set 25-20.
- After a 3-3 tie to start the third set, Canisius went on a quick 8-1 run to take a 12-4 lead. The Griffs extended their lead to 18-9, but the Red Foxes had some fight left in them. They used a 4-1 run towards the end of the set, featuring two kills each for Austin and Gabby Murray, to bring the score to 21-16 in favor of Canisius. It wasn't enough though, as Canisius took the set 25-19.
- Marist's tenacity late in the third set carried over into the fourth set, as they were able to get out to an early 10-7 lead. Despite various attempts and pushes by the Golden Griffins to tie the score, the Red Fox defense came up clutch every time. Waumans had a huge set, eventually tallying two kills and a block on three straight rallies, helping Marist extend its lead to 23-19. Theriot clinched the set with another set-winning service ace, giving the Red Foxes a 25-20 victory and sending this one into a fifth set.
- Both teams traded points early on in the final set, but the Griffs were able to get out to a 7-4 lead, and force a Marist timeout. The Red Foxes rallied to within two thanks to heroics from Fergus, four straight kills and six in total in the fifth set. However, it wasn't enough as Canisius went on to win the set 15-12.
- Fergus led the way for Marist with a match-high 19 kills, and Waumans was right behind her with 18 kills of her own. Austin also added 15 kills and 19 digs, another double-double.
- Theriot had a match-high 38 digs, and added eight assists with two clutch service aces.
- Carter notched a double-double with 40 assists and 15 digs.
- Stephanie Stone led Marist with six total blocks.
- Leah Simmons and Hannah Nelson had 12 kills each, leading Canisius.
- Despite the loss, The Red Foxes outhit the Griffs, .219-.198.
- With her 11th kill of the match, Fergus passed Assistant Coach Kelsey Lahey on the all-time kills list, and moved into sole possession of eighth place.
- Not only was Theriot's 38 digs a career-high, but it also tied a mark set by Brooke Zywick back in 2012 for the second most digs in a single match in program history.
- The Red Foxes 102 digs as a team were the most the team has tallied in a single match since all the way back in 2014.
- Waumans' 18 kills marked a new career-high for the sophomore outside hitter, besting her previous mark of 11.
- Courtney Kasperski tallied her first kill in a match since all the way back on October 7, 2017 vs Iona.
The Red Foxes are back in McCann Arena tomorrow, October 12, for a MAAC matchup against Niagara. First serve is set for noon.
