POUGHKEEPSIE, New York– The Marist volleyball team closed out the regular season with a sweep of the Manhattan Jaspers to celebrate Senior Night on Saturday evening. The Red Foxes head into postseason play on a two-match winning streak, after winning both games this weekend. The team has already clinched a spot in the postseason, but deepening on the results of the final day of the regular season tomorrow, can finish as either the #2 seed, #4 seed, or the #5 seed.
With the win, Marist improves to .500 on the year, ending the season with a 14-14 record. The Red Foxes end with a 12-6 record in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Jaspers fall to 7-23 overall with the loss, and 4-13 in the conference.
- Marist flat out dominated from start to finish in this match. The Red Foxes started out the first set by taking six of the first seven points, to steal a quick 6-1 lead. Manhattan went on a small run to cut Marist's lead to just 9-4, but McKinley Fox came through with three consecutive service aces to cap a 4-0 run and put the Red Foxes in front 12-4. With the Red Foxes in front 18-8, another 4-0 run that was capped by kills from seniors Megan Fergus and Nikki DeSerpa all but closed it out. Marist took the set 25-14 after Fergus clinched the win with her fourth kill of the first set.
- Nothing changed in the second set, as the Red Foxes just continued to pour it on. Manhattan actually took a 4-3 lead to begin the set, but that was the first and only time the Jaspers would have the lead in the entire match. From that point, a kill from Gabby Murray, and then two in a row from Sarah Austin sparked a 5-0 run that put the Red Foxes in front 7-4. The seniors continued to dominate the match, as back-to-back kills from Fergus and DeSerpa helped the lead grow to 24-15. Victoria Perini clinched the set with a massive kill, giving Marist a 25-17 set two victory.
- Nothing the Jaspers did could slow the Marist attack, as the Red Foxes stormed out to a quick 9-4 lead in the third set. Getting in on the senior night fun was Stephanie Stone, as she was responsible for the next two Marist points on two straight kills. DeSerpa had a kill on the very next rally, and the Red Foxes took a six-point lead at 12-6 lead, which would be all they needed. Senior night fittingly concluded as Fergus destroyed two more kills back-to-back, to finish off a 25-18 set victory, and a 3-0 sweep in the match.
- Fergus had a match-high 13 kills, and tallied nine digs to fall just one dig short of a double-double.
- DeSerpa collected her first double-double of the season, totaling 12 kills and 10 digs. She hit a fantastic .550 in the match.
- Stephanie Stone rounded out the trio of well-preforming seniors, adding four kills with a dig, and playing outstanding defense in the middle.
- Fox had a match-high 41 assists, and Courtney Kasperski had a match-high 14 digs.
- Erin Hoener led the Jasper's attack with seven kills.
- The Red Foxes outhit Manhattan, .348-.217.
- In the final game of her regular season career, DeSerpa's .550 hitting percentage was her best mar of the season, and second-best mark of her career. She hit .556 vs Quinnipiac in the final match of the season all the way back in 2016.
- Perini's set clinching kill in the second game was the first kill in her career as a Red Fox
- Kasperski's 14 digs matched her season-high which she set back on October 27 against Saint Peter's.
- After totaling five double-doubles in her career prior to this season, Austin's 10 kills and 10 digs today secured her ninth double-double of this season alone.
- The team's .348 hitting percentage was its second best mark of the season, after hitting .390 at Siena on November 1.
The MAAC Championships will take place from Friday, November 22 to Sunday, November 24, hosted by the Fairfield Stags in Fairfield, Connecticut. Heading into the final day of the regular, stay tuned to @MaristVB on Twitter for updates on Marist's playoff seeding.
