POUGHKEEPSIE, New York - The Marist volleyball team defeated the Iona Gaels in four sets at McCann Arena on Friday night, in the regular season's penultimate game. Senior Megan Fergus had a record setting day,  leading the attack with 20 kills, and moving up both the all-time kills list and the all-time total blocks list.  

With the win, the Red Foxes improve to 13-14 on the season, and 11-6 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. Iona falls to 5-22 overall with the loss, and 5-12 in conference play. Marist now sits in a tie for the third seed in the MAAC with Rider heading into its final game of the season tomorrow. 
 

SUMMARY

• The teams traded points early in the first set, with neither team taking a lead larger than two until Marist led 7-4. Sophomore Skylar Harrison, junior Sarah Austin, and Fergus contributed kills to put Marist in front. Leading 11-8, the Red Foxes would go on a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 21-8. Marist would win 25-15, with Fergus smashing seven kills in the set.
• Iona took three of the first five points in set two, and got out to an early 7-3 lead. Marist would slowly claw its way back, bringing the deficit to just two thanks to some errors from Iona and kills from DeSerpa, Harrison and Fergus. Fergus tied the set at 17 with a kill, and DeSerpa's kill put the Red Foxes in front 18-17 on the next play. Marist took the next three points to prompt an Iona timeout with Marist leading 21-17. After the timeout, the Foxes would quickly finish the set, winning 25-20.
• Iona started the third set the same as the second, taking three of the first five points. The Gaels would expand their lead to 9-5, but the Red Foxes would start to fight back, bringing the set to 10-8 on kills from Fergus and DeSerpa. An Iona error tied the set at 10, but the Gaels would get the next two points to take a 12-10 lead. Kills by senior Stephanie Stone and Austin helped the Red Foxes tie the set at 14. Harrison smashed a kill that gave Marist a 15-14 lead, but the Gaels tied it up with a kill of their own. The Gaels took the next two points to take a 17-15 lead and force a Marist timeout. The Gaels took the next two points after the timeout to jump in front 19-15. The Gaels would hold the four-point lead, taking the set 25-20.
• Marist jumped in front with authority in set four, taking six of the first seven points. The Gaels would go on a run, bringing the score to 7-6, but two kills from DeSerpa and an Iona service error would extend the Marist lead to 12-8. The Red Foxes extended the lead to 19-13 by taking advantage of several Iona errors. Stone finished the set with a kill, as the Red Foxes won 25-17. 

STATS

• Fergus had a match-high 20 kills on a .269 hitting percentage, and added three total blocks and four digs. 
• McKinley Fox had a match-high 46 assists, and tallied a double-double by adding 13 digs
• Freshman libero Sophia Theriot had a match-high 19 digs, and was the only Red Fox to tally a service ace. 
• Alessandra Brady and Jamie Smith each had 10 kills, leading the Gaels attack. 
• Marist outhit Iona, .199-.141.

 

NOTES

• With her second block of the match, Fergus moved up to seventh place on the all-time total blocks list.
• Additionally, her 20th and final kill of the match, which was Marist's penultimate point of the match, moved Fergus into third place on the all-time kills list. 
• The Red Foxes swept the season against Iona, 2-0. 

 

UP NEXT

Marist is back in action tomorrow at McCann Arena as the Red Foxes host Manhattan on Senior Night. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m., with festivities beginning at 6 p.m.                                                       .