NEW ROCHELLE, New York – The Marist volleyball team won its second match in a row on Saturday, defeating the Iona Gaels in four sets. In the victory, freshman middle blocker
Gabby Murray smacked 15 kills, on an .833 hitting percentage. That mark is tied for the highest hitting percentage in a single match (minimum 18 attempts) in the entire NCAA this season.
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With the win, the Red Foxes improve to 8-11 on the season, and 6-3 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. Meanwhile, the Gaels fall to 2-17 overall and 2-7 in the conference.
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- The Red Foxes got off to a hot start in the first set. Five different players tallied kills, leading to a 13-8 for Marist, which forced Iona to burn its first timeout. A 4-1 run sparked by a Sophia Theriot service ace, and capped by a Murray kill extended the Red Foxes' lead to 19-12, and forced the Gaels to use their final timeout to try and halt Marist's momentum. It didn't work, as the Red Foxes took the next three points, after a Murray kill and two-straight service aces from Megan Fergus. Marist won the first set rather easily, 25-13.
- Iona was able to shake off a rough first set, and got off to a quick start in set two. They quickly scored 12 points, nearly matching their first set total early in the second set, and forced Marist to call for time trailing 12-9. Fergus went on a personal 3-0 run (two kills and an ace) to put the Red Foxes in front, 16-15. Iona would tie the set at 22, and a service ace from Jamie Smith put the Gaels in front 23-22. The Red Foxes battled to tie the match at 24, and there would be ties at 25, 26, and 27, before the Gaels were able to win the set 29-27.
- Set three was tightly contested in the early going, leading to a tie at 9-9. From that point on, the set belonged solely to the Red Foxes. Iona couldn't seem to get anything going on the offensive end. A 16-7 run to finish off the set gave Marist a 25-16 victory in set three.
- The dominance continued into the fourth set, and it seemed like Iona was out of gas. The Red Foxes opened the set on a 9-3 run, and the Gaels immediately called for time to try and catch their breaths. The effort would prove to be futile, as nothing could stop Marist at this point. The Red Foxes extended their lead to 24-13, and Murray finished off the day with her 15th kill of the match.
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- Fergus led the way for the Red Foxes with a match-high 21 kills. She Âtallied her second consecutive double-double by adding 14 digs. She also had four service aces and two total blocks. Â
- Theriot had a match-high 22 digs. She also added two service aces and two assists to help out the offense.
- Jamie Smith and Julia Thomas each had eight kills, leading the way for Iona.
- Marist outhit Iona, .275-.148.
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- Murray tallied a career-high 15 kills today, and she did so on a .833 hitting percentage. This is tied for the highest hitting percentage in a single match (minimum 18 attempts) in the entire NCAA this season. It was also the highest hitting percentage of any Red Fox (minimum 15 kills) in the last 10 years.
- With her first block of the match in the third set, Stephanie Stone passed Courtney Shaw and moved into ninth place on the program's all-time total blocks list.
- McKinley Fox had a career night, posting a career-high 50 assists, while tallying her second double-double in a row with 12 digs.
- Fergus's four service aces were a new career-high. She had never accumulated more than two in a match before today, and she tallied three in the first set alone.
- The Red Foxes had nine different players tally a kill, the most this season.
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The Red Foxes have a quick turnaround, taking the court again tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Manhattan.
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