FAIRFIELD, Connecticut – The Marist volleyball team's season came to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Red Foxes fell to #1 Fairfield in five sets in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Semifinals. Senior Megan Fergus left it all on the court, smacking a career-high 28 kills on a career-high 64 attempts in the loss. It was just the second time all season that the Stags had even lost two sets to a MAAC opponent, but the Red Foxes came up just a little short in the end.
 
Marist ends the season with an overall record of 15-15. The Stags improve to 23-5 and move on to the MAAC Championship where they will play the winner of #6 Quinnipiac.
 

We dropped a heart-breaker today in five sets against @StagsVB.

We'd like to give a HUGE shoutout to our seniors for everything they have accomplished this season, and in their careers. The Marist volleyball program won't forget you guys.

For more:https://t.co/ABKUG2Zh9C

— Marist Volleyball (@Maristvb) November 24, 2019

 

SUMMARY

• Fairfield looked to be in control early on in the first set, taking a quick 9-3 lead. Gabby Murray capped a 5-0 Marist run to cut the deficit to just one point with a monster kill set up by McKinley Fox. A Kill from Nikki DeSerpa would tie the match at 12, and then the Red Foxes took the next three points to take a 15-12 lead. A few points later, Sarah Austin demolished the ball, picking up the kill and extending Marist's lead to 20-15 which forced the Stags to call for time. The timeout slowed the game down, but it for sure didn't slow the Red Foxes down. DeSerpa clinched the set with her sixth kill, giving Marist a 25-20 set win.
• Marist's dominance continued into the second game, and Marist opened with a 7-3 run and forced Fairfield to burn a quick timeout. The Red Foxes took three of the next four points after the timeout, capped by a beautiful service ace from Austin, to extend their lead to 10-4. The Stags couldn't make anything work, and Fergus just couldn't be stopped. Her 14th kill of the match extended the Red Foxes lead to 21-16 and forced Fairfield Head Coach Todd Kress to burn his final timeout, grasping at straws wondering what to do to try and stop Marist. The problem was that no timeout could stop Fergus, as she crushed two more kills, followed by a service ace from Courtney Kasperski which clinched the set, and gave Marist a 2-0 advantage.
• The intermission came at the perfect time for the Stags. Fairfield really needed to regroup, and they were able to do so. The Stags and the Red Foxes were much more evenly-matched, as they had multiple early ties including at one, three, four, five, six, nine, 11, 12, 13, and 14. From that point, Fairifield took three straight points, to gain a slight edge. Marist was able to cut the deficit to just 21-20 after Fergus and Skylar Harrison combined for a block, but the Stags were able to answer with back-to-back kills from Mayda Garcia and Laura Seeger. Fairfield went on to take the set 25-22.
• Fairfield harnessed the momentum gained in the third set and took total control in the fourth set. They looked like a completely different team. The Red Foxes looked a little slow, quickly falling behind 10-5. The Stags' lead slowly grew larger and larger, until it blossomed to 22-11. Then Seeger crushed a kill to clinch the set, forcing a fifth game.
• The Red Foxes rebounded well at the start of the final set, taking an early 5-3 lead after another ace from Kasperski. The Stags evened up the set at seven, but Fergus crushed a kill to put the Red Foxes in front 8-7. After the teams switched sides of the court, the lead also switched. Fairfield took the next two points and stole a 9-8 lead, and then the flood gates opened. The Stags took three more points in a row, including two service aces from Sonja Radulovic, and extended their lead to four. Marist could not recover, and Fairfield went on to take the set 15-11. 

 

STATS

• Fergus's 28 kills were the most in the match by far, on a .359 hitting percentage, with Garcia the closest at 21 kills. She added 11 digs for a double-double and chipped in four total blocks.
• DeSerpa reached 18 kills in the match and picked up three digs and two blocks.
• McKinley Fox outpaced Manuela Nicolini, the MAAC Player of the Year, in assists 55-53.
• Sophia Theriot led the match with 26 digs.
• Stephanie Stone totaled five blocks in her final career match. She also added two kills.
• Fairfield outhit Marist, .236-.199
• The Red Foxes had 60 total kills in the match, right behind Fairfield's 61.

 

NOTES

• Fergus finished the year with 450 total kills, which is the second most kills in a single season in the history of the program. She finishes her career ranked third on the all-time kills list and seventh on the all-time blocks list.
• DeSerpa finishes her career ranked fifth on the all-time kills list, with 1,165 in her career.
• Stone ends her career with 284 career blocks, which sits ninth place all-time.
• Theriot finishes her rookie campaign with 468 digs on the year. This is good for the fifth-most single season digs in program history.
• Fox ended the season with a career-high 55 assists in the match.

 

TILL NEXT TIME

Thank you to our seniors, Megan Fergus, Nikki DeSerpa, and Stephanie Stone, for everything they have done for the program throughout their four years as Red Foxes. They all rank among the greatest players in program history and will be remembered for their incredible leadership on and off the court.

To the fans, thank you for your support throughout the entire season.