FAIRFIELD, CT- The Iona College volleyball team split its final two games at the Sacred Heart Invitational this afternoon, sweeping Holy Cross in three sets before falling to the host Pioneers in three in the night cap. The Gaels (1-5) picked up their first win of the season vs. the Crusaders in the first contest.

A balanced offensive attack led to the Maroon & Gold's 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 victory over Holy Cross. On the outside, junior Rachel Whitten and rookie Theresa Harvey posted seven kills. In the middle, junior Colleen Genett and sophomore Molly O'Shea had six a piece. Sophomore setter Nicole Tamburri had 30 assists with six digs and a career-high five kills. Junior libero Allison Nieters had a season-best 20 digs in the victory.

Set 1:
After Nieters led off the match with an ace, the Crusaders knotted the score at 1-1. Iona went on an 8-0 run and cruised to the first set 25-17 win. O'Shea was a perfect 4-for-4 on attack attempts with an ace and a block. Harvey also added four kills and a rejection in the set.

Set 2:
The two teams kept the score close with Holy Cross holding a slim advantage for most of the first half of the set. With the scored tied at 16, Iona took the lead for good on a block by Genett and senior Sarah Wiener. Leading by five with set point, the Gaels withstood a late Crusader charge to earn the 25-21 win. Whitten and Tamburri had three kills apiece. Nieters had seven digs in the middle frame.

Set 3:
Harvey's kill early in the set made the score 2-1 and the Gaels never looked back. Leading by as many as eight points at 17-9, Holy Cross again charged hard with a 10-2 run to tie the score at 19-19. The point would be the last one the Crusaders scored as Iona ended the match with six straight tallies. Genett had four kills on five attempts; Nieters set a Gael single-set season high with nine digs. The Gaels had five aces in the frame, with two coming from the rookie Harvey.

In its final match of the invite, Iona fell to Sacred Heart, 16-25, 24-26, 22-25. Genett posted her third double-digit kill effort in the last four matches with 10 kills on 16 attempts. She was named to the All-Tournament team after hitting .600 with 28 kills and just one error in 45 attack attempts. Harvey set a season-high with nine kills and had 11 digs. Whitten added seven kills. Nieters matched her morning effort with 20 digs.

Set 1:
With the scored tied at 6-6, Sacred Heart scored nine of the next 11 points to take a seven point advantage they would not relinquish. Harvey had four kills and four digs in the set to lead the Gaels.

Set 2:
Iona tied the score at 18-18 and worked a 22-20 advantage. The Pioneers fought back and had set point before an attack error knotted the score for the 10th time in the frame. The home team scored the final two points to earn the 26-24 set win. Genett and Whitten posted four kills each.

Set 3:
Iona never led but charged back from an early seven-point deficit (9-2) to tie the score at 18. Sacred Heart quickly regained the lead and out lasted the Gaels 25-22. Genett had four kills and all three of her blocks in the set.

The Gaels are back in action on Wednesday night (Sep. 9) when they travel to the Bronx to take on Fordham at 7:00 pm.