POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist volleyball team travels to Fairfield for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship this weekend. The Red Foxes will square off against #5 Niagara on Friday night at 8 p.m. After besting the Purple Eagles in both regular season matchups this season, Marist looks to continue that success into the postseason.
 

HOW TO FOLLOW

• Live stats will be available for all the matches via fairfieldstags.com. You can find them HERE.
• The matches will all be streamed on ESPN+. Marist vs Niagara can be found HERE.
• You can follow along with the match on-the-go via live updates on Twitter @MaristVB.

 

RED FOX NETWORK FEATURE

• This week's Red Fox Network feature takes a deep dive into the "Marist Volleyball Olympics" that took place on Tuesday Morning.
• The Red Foxes were divided into two squads, and competed in various volleyball themed events.
• Head Coach Sean Byron felt it was important that his team took some time to be relaxed heading into the playoffs. He felt it helps develop critical thinking trying to complete certain tasks, that would help them be more attentive in the MAAC Championship.

 

SEASON SO FAR

• The Red Foxes finished the season an even 14-14. This was the first time that the team finished at .500 overall since back in 2015. Marist finished 12-6 in the MAAC this season, which put them in a four-way tie for second place. Due to tiebreakers, the Red Foxes finished as the #4 seed.
• Gabby Murray's .833 hitting percentage back on October 19 against Iona finished the season as tied for the second highest hitting percentage (minimum 18 attempts) in the entire NCAA this season. She finishes the season ranked second in the MAAC with a .365 hitting percentage
• Megan Fergus was named the South Bay Battle MVP back on Saturday, September 14. In addition, she won four MAAC Player of the Week awards this season, while Sophia Theriot claimed four MAAC Libero of the Week Awards.
• Fergus finished the regular season ranked third on the all-time kills list and seventh on the all-time total blocks list. Nikki DeSerpa now stands in sixth on the all-time kills list, while Stephanie Stone is in ninth on the all-time blocks list.
• Theriot totaled 38 digs back on Saturday, October 12 against Canisius which was tied for the second most digs in a match in program history. Fellow freshman Halle Carter tallied 65 assists back on September 28 against Saint Peter's, which was the third most assists in a single match in the team's history.
• In that same match, Fergus and Sarah Austin both tallied 20 kills and 20 digs, which was the only time a pair of teammates has done so in the last 10 years of the program.

 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Red Foxes closed out the season in styles, picking up an incredible 3-0 sweep of Manhattan on senior night back on Saturday, November 16. This gave Marist a season sweep of the Jaspers.
• Marist heads into postseason play on a two-match winning streak, after winning both games they played this past weekend.
• Fergus had a match-high 13 kills and fell one dig short of a double-double in her final regular season game.
• DeSerpa collected her first double-double of the season, totaling 12 kills and 10 digs in her final regular season game.
• Stephanie Stone rounded out the trio of well-preforming Seniors, also playing a solid game in her final regular season match. She totaled four kills with a dig, and played outstanding defense in the middle.
• Fergus was named MAAC Player of the Week for her performance over the season, and is riding a hot streak heading into the tournament.

 

REGULAR SEASON VS NIAGARA

• Marist swept the regular season series against Niagara. The first matchup resulted in a 3-0 sweep on October 13, and then on November 9 the Red Foxes took down the Purple Eagles in five sets.
• Fergus had an impressive outing in each of the contests against Niagara. In the first, she had a match high 15 kills and 12 digs back in October, and then put up 18 kills and 17 digs two weeks ago. She moved up on the all-time kills list in both contests.
• McKinley Fox had one of her best games of the season in the first game against Niagara, dishing out 39 assists and grabbing 14 digs to secure a double-double.
• DeSerpa went off in the most recent matchup against Niagara, smacking a season-high 20 kills, to go with seven digs, a block, and an ace.

 

SCOUTING NIAGARA

• The Purple Eagles finished at 13-15 overall and 12-6 in conference this regular season, which was tied with where Marist finished as well.
• Niagara closed out the regular season with a 0-3 loss to the number one seed in the MAAC, Fairfield.
• Caroline Leitch and Jaycie Roberts lead the attack for the Purple Eagles, having totaled 291 and 289 kills, respectively, so far this season.
• Cameron Maris has been a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the court for Niagara's defense, smacking 73 blocks on the season.

 

PLAYOFF BRACKET

• The winner of this match will move on to face #1 Fairfield on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• The winner of #3 Rider and #6 Quinnipiac will mov eon to face #2 Canisius on Saturday at 5 p.m.
• The winner of both matches on Saturday will advance to the championship round, which is scheduled to be played Sunday at 2 p.m.