NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College volleyball team took the direct way into the postseason earning a gutsy five-set win Marist at the Hynes Center. Needing a win or a Manhattan loss for undisputed possession of the No. 4 seed in next weekend's MAAC Championship, the Gaels (19-11, 11-7 MAAC) got both and will take on No. 1 Fairfield when the tournament commences next Sunday.
After dropping the first two sets 22-25 and 16-25, Iona regrouped during the 10-minute intermission and rallied for the five-set win. The Maroon & Gold had little trouble in the third set, 25-14. Facing match point at 24-22, Iona rattled off four straight points to knot the contest at two-games a piece. In the fifth set, the home team held off a late Red Fox charge to earn the thrilling victory on Senior Day at the Hynes Center.
Freshman Rachelle Wilson had a dominant effort for the second straight match, posting a team-best 13 kills while completing her second collegiate double-double with a career-best 12 blocks. She hit .346 in the match. In eight sets this weekend Wilson recorded 25 kills and a .477 hitting percentage while averaging 1.62 blocks per set.
Junior Sarah Wiener had a solid effort from the outside with 12 kills, a .333 hitting percentage, six blocks and four digs. Sophomore Colleen Genett added nine kills and five blocks, senior Kendall Paulus had eight kills and seven digs and rookie Molly O'Shea returned to the lineup after missing most of the last five matches to post seven kills, seven digs and five blocks.
Sophomore libero Allison Nieters had her 10th match of the season with 30 or more digs with 35 in the five sets. The stat leads all of Div. I volleyball as she surpassed Chattanooga's Lara Newberry for the first time this season.
The Gaels 17.5 blocks set a season-high. It was the third highest total in the last six years and highest since the Gaels posted 19 blocks vs. Central Connecticut on Nov. 12, 2003. Setters Alyssa Morales (five assists) and Alyssa Erickson (42 assists) helped the team to a .210 hitting percentage.
Iona has now qualified for the MAAC Championship for the seventh straight season. It is the second longest current streak in the conference behind its MAAC Championship opponent Fairfield who has earned 13 straight postseason bids. The seven straight MAAC appearances is also the fourth longest in conference history. After Fairfield 13, Siena reached the championship in 10 straight years from 1993-02 and Saint Peter's in eight straight from 1997-04.
The Gaels take on Fairfield next Sunday at Siena's Alumni Rec Center. Game time is still to be announced. The winner of the match takes on the winner of No. 2 Siena vs. No. 3 Canisius in the MAAC Championhsip game on ESPNU on Monday at 7:30 pm.
GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS
Marist.............. (2) 25 25 14 24 12 14-17, 9-9 MAAC
Iona College........ (3) 22 16 25 26 15 19-11, 11-7 MAAC
