JERSEY CITY, New Jersey – The Marist volleyball team defeated the Saint Peter's Peacocks 3-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Red Foxes rallied and came from behind to win the fifth set, and grabbed their second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win of the season.
Megan Fergus led an impressive comeback in set five, which included a personal 4-1 run (four kills) and a personal 4-0 run (three kills and one solo block), while cracking the top-10 on Marist's all-time kills list in the process.
With the win, Marist improves to 4-8 (2-1 MAAC) on the season, while Saint Peter's falls to 3-11 (1-2 MAAC).
- Despite a quick start to set one from Fergus, the Red Foxes struggled to gain control of the set. After taking a 3-2 lead, but then allowing two straight Saint Peter's points, Marist never saw the lead again. The Red Foxes closed the deficit to one point after a Stephanie Stone kill brought the score to 20-19, but three straight Peacock points sealed the deal for Saint Peter's and they took the set 25-20.
- Despite an early lead for Marist in set two after a 6-0 run to begin the set, the Peacocks were able to slowly claw their way back into the set, and eventually tied the set at 18. The Red Foxes called for time and regrouped, taking four of the next five points out of the timeout, capped by a monster kill from Ashley Cruise. Saint Peter's battled back again and tied the set at 22, but Marist took the next three points to secure a 25-22 victory in set two.
- Set three was tightly contested all the way through. Ties occurred consistently throughout the set, including at 1, 4, 6, 9, 20, and 22. Despite various lead changes throughout, neither team could gain full control of the set. The pattern continued towards the end of the set, leading to ties at 24 and 25 as well. Back-to-back kills from Fergus and Gabby Murray broke the tie and gave the Red Foxes a 27-25 set victory, and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
- Saint Peter's regained momentum in the fourth set, after a rocky start. Marist led 8-5 in the early going, but the Peacocks used a 6-0 run to gain an 11-8 advantage. The Red Foxes tied the set at 20, but Saint Peter's took the next five points to send the match to a fifth set.
- The Red Foxes chances looked slim after the Peacocks took an early 9-6 lead in set five. However, it was at that time that Fergus channeled her inner Superman, and had the best stretch of her entire career. She went on a personal 4-1 run with four kills to tie the set at 10. Then after two more Peacocks points to give them a 12-10 advantage, Fergus went on a personal 4-0 run, including three kills and a solo block. Sarah Austin crushed a kill to finish off the set, giving Marist a 3-2 victory.
- Austin led Marist with a match-high 22 kills. Fergus added 21 kills of her own, including eight kills in the fifth set alone.
- Halle Carter totaled a match-high 65 assists, and added 13 digs, good for her second double-double in as many matches, and the second of her career.
- Sophia Theriot led the Red Foxes with 27 digs, and added five assists.
- Angeleyska Curbelo led Saint Peter's with 15 kills, and Karla Seda added a match-high 30 digs.
- Despite the loss, the Peacocks had the advantage in service aces, 10-4, and blocks, 17-10.
- If you looked away for a moment, you most likely missed another record being broken, or a new career-high.
- The most notable milestone of the match was Fergus joining teammate Nikki DeSerpa in the top-10 on Marist's all-time kills list, with her 952nd career kill.
- Austin and Fergus each added 20 digs to their match leading 22 kills and 21 kills, respectively. The only Red Fox in the last 10 years to tally a 20-20 kills/digs game was Kelsey Ediger, who totaled 22 kills and 23 digs against Rider on October 8, 2017. No pair of Marist teammates has reached that milestone in the same match within the last 10 years.
- Austin's 22 kills and 20 kdigs were both career-highs. Fergus' 20 digs were also a career-high upping the career-high of 10 she set last match agasint Quinnipiac. She fell just one kill short from matching her career-high of 22 kills.
- Carter's 65 assists were not only a career-high, but she also tied Dawn Jan for the third most assists in a single match in program history.
- Theriot's 27 digs were good for a career-high. She has set a new career-high in digs in back-to-back matches.
- Cruise notched a career-high 14 kills off the bench for Marist, beating her previous career-high of 10.
Marist looks for its third consecutive victory tomorrow against Rider. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
