NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College volleyball team earned a three-set win over Siena in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at the Hynes Center. The Gaels (13-6, 7-2 MAAC) snapped an eight-match losing streak against the Saints (4-14, 3-6 MAAC) and swept their rival for the first time since Nov. 11, 2002. Iona completed the first half of its round-robin conference schedule with a 7-2 mark and stand tied for second place.
The Gaels won the match with set scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-20. In the opening set, the Maroon & Gold took an 8-2 lead to start the match. Siena crawled back to knot the score at 15-15 before a 4-1 run by Iona gave the home team a lead it would not relinquish. The Saints got within one point at 24-23 but sophomore OH
Theresa Harvey's kill sealed the two-point victory.
After trading leads early in set two, the Gaels rallied for five straight points to take a 14-9 lead. Siena would not get closer than five points the rest of the way as Iona took the set by a margin of eight.
In the final frame, the Gaels scored seven of the last 10 points, sealing the win on senior MB
Colleen Genett's kill.
In a match where offense eluded Iona at times, the squad spread the wealth with four players recording six or more kills. Senior S
Alyssa Erickson recorded 26 assists to go along with six kills, six digs, five blocks and three aces in the win. Her 11.5 points was a career-best for the senior setter and eclipsed her previous high of 9.0 points set on two occasions at Rider in '08 and at Marist in '09. Genett and fellow senior MB
Rachel Whitten posted a team-best eight kills apiece. Whitten had four blocks and two aces and led the way with 12.0 total points. Genett had six blocks and matched Erickson's 11.5 points. Rookie OH
Alicja Pawelec had seven kills and two blocks in the win.
Defensively, senior
Allison Nieters averaged 8.0 digs per set with 24 in the match. Nieters climbed to No. 10 on the NCAA's all-time digs list with 2,441 career digs. Already holding the MAAC and Iona's career-record, she stands 15 digs shy of the seventh-best total in NCAA history. Senior RS
Bethany Schornack added nine while Whitten and senior DS
Laura Fojanesi posted seven a piece.
Siena freshman OH Taylor Akana netted 14 kills and 17 digs to lead her squad. After dominating the first set with eight kills and 10 digs and a .417 hitting percentage, the Gaels held her to just six kills and a .000 hitting percentage in the final two frames. Libero Lesli Akeo posted 18 digs and RS Brianne Bobo had 10 in the loss.
The Gaels hit the road for three matches to start the second half of their MAAC slate beginning tomorrow at Manhattan at 2:00 pm.
