FAIRFIELD, Connecticut – The Marist volleyball team swept #5 Niagara in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship on Friday night. The Red Foxes straight up dominated the first two sets, and after scuffling a bit to begin the third set, came back to earn the sweep. Marist advances to play #1 Fairfield in the semifinals tomorrow at 2 p.m.

SET ONE SUMMARY

• The Red Foxes kicked off the tournament by taking an early 6-5 lead. All-MAAC First Team selection Megan Fergus led the charge, tallying all four Marist kills in that span.
• After a few exchanged points, Niagara used a 6-0 run to take a 14-10 lead and force a Red Fox timeout.
• The timeout shifted the momentum, as Marist slowly crawled back into it, and then back-to-back points from Gabby Murray, a kill and a block, put Marist in front 19-18.
• On the next play, a two-minute review reversed a crucial call, giving Nikki DeSerpa a kill, and giving the Red Foxes a 21-19 lead.
• Niagara tied the match at 21, but back-to-back kills from DeSerpa propelled the Red Foxes to a 25-23 victory in the first set.

 

SET TWO SUMMARY

• Marist rode the momentum of the first set into the second and did not let up.
• Behind two straight service aces, Marist would get out to a quick 8-4 lead.
• The seniors helped to grow that lead, as DeSerpa and Fergus were smacking kills left and right. Her 10th kill of the match put Marist in front 14-7.
• Murray smacked a couple kills to spark an 8-3 Marist run, and at that point the set was all but over. The Red Foxes went on to win 25-11.

 

SET THREE SUMMARY

• Niagara wouldn't go down without a fight, stealing an 8-3 to start the third set and force Head Coach Sean Byron to use a quick timeout.
• As usual, the Red Foxes wouldn't go away without a fight. A kill from Stephanie Stone capped an 8-4 Marist run, to trim the deficit to just 12-11 and force a Niagara timeout.
• The Purple Eagles took the next three points out of the timeout, but again the Red Foxes would have none of it. Marist answered with a 3-0 run of its own to crawl to within one again.
• Skylar Harrison came through with a kill to the tie the match at 17, and then Sarah Austin followed her up with another kill to put Marist in front 18-17.
• Courtney Kasperski followed up the kills with a service ace, and the Red Foxes took full control. They went on to win the set 25-22, earning a 3-0 sweep.

 

STATS

• Fergus had a match-high 15 kills for Marist, She also totaled nine digs and two blocks.
• DeSerpa was the only other player with double-figure kills, tallying 13. She hit .280 in the match and had four digs and a block.
• Murray had nine kills and led Marist with four blocks.
• Sophia Theriot had a match-high 13 kills and McKinley Fox had a match-high 39 assists.
• Jaycie Roberts and Caroline Leitch each had nine kills to lead Niagara.
• The Red Foxes outhit the Purple Eagles, .252-.162

NOTES

• Marist has now won all three matches against Niagara this season.
• With her 15 kills today, Fergus now has 422 kills this season, which Is the third most kills in a single season in program history.
• Theriot now has 442 total digs this season, which is the eighth most digs in a single season in program history,

 

UP NEXT

As stated at the top of the article, Marist will take on #1 Fairfield tomorrow at 2 p.m. The winner of tomorrow's match will move on to play the winner of #6 Quinnipiac vs #2 Canisius. The championship will take place on Sunday at 2 p.m.