BUFFALO, New York– The Marist volleyball team fell to the Canisius Golden Griffins in five sets on Sunday afternoon. The Red Foxes are now 0-2 on the season against Canisius. Despite the loss, the Red Foxes have clinched a post season berth, as they are guaranteed a top six seed in the conference.
With the loss, the Red Foxes fall to 12-14 on the season, and 10-6 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. Meanwhile, the Golden Griffins improve to 13-15 overall and are also 10-6 in MAAC. For the moment, there is just a half game separating the second and fifth seed in the MAAC, with the Red Foxes sitting in fifth.
- Both Canisius and Marist were evenly matched early in the first set, leading to a tie at 16 to open the game. Then, the Red Foxes took control as they stormed onto a 5-0 scoring run, highlighted by a fantastic Sarah Austin kill, to take a 21-16. That six-point lead would hold, as Marist won the first set 25-19.
- The Red Foxes rode the momentum they seized back in set one into the second set and took an early 10-5 advantage, forcing the Golden Griffins to burn a timeout. Canisius used an extended 8-3 run to tie up the match at 18, and then took the next to point to take a 20-18 lead which forced a Marist timeout. The stoppage did not slow down the Griffs, as they went on to take a 25-21 set two victory.
- Set three was another tight one, as the two rivals were tied at 18 heading into the home stretch. Canisius took the next three points, and a Marist timeout again could not slow the Golden Griffins down. The Griffs took the set 25-22, giving them a 2-1 advantage in the match.
- With their backs against the wall, the Red Foxes absolutely caught fire in the fourth set. They took an early 11-5 lead, and forced Canisius to call a timeout that would prove futile. Two consecutive service aces from Skylar Harrison extended Marist's lead to nine at 15-6, and that was all the Red Foxes would need. They went on to win set four in convincing fashion, 25-18.
- Canisius recovered in set five, and got out to a 9-4 lead. The Red Foxes answered with three straight points, capped by back-to-back kills from Nikki DeSerpa and Harrison, and forced a Griffin timeout. That timeout worked, as it cooled off Marist's momentum. Canisius went on to win 15-11.
- DeSerpa led the Red Foxes in kills for the second straight match, today tallying 15 on a .353 hitting percentage.
- Austin was also in double figure kills, smacking 14 for the second straight day. She also double-doubled for the second time this weekend, adding 14 digs.
- Harrison got up to 11 kills in the match, and had four service aces.
- Halle Carter had 44 assists and a match-high five service aces.
- Leah Simmons tallied 15 kills for the Griffs, and also smacked her 1,000th career kill in the match.
- Canisius outhit Marist in the match, .251-.199.
- Harrison's 11 kills were a career-high, as were her four service aces.
- Carter's five service aces were also a career-high.
- Megan Fergus is now three total blocks away from moving up on the all-time total blocks list.
- DeSerpa's .353 hitting percentage was her third highest total of the season.
The Red Foxes will return to McCann Arena next weekend for their final two regular season matched. They will take on Iona on Friday, November 15 at 7 p.m. Then, in what will be Marist's senior night, they will take on Manhattan on Saturday, November 16 at 6 p.m.
