POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Iona College volleyball program rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth set to upend Marist this afternoon 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-20, 26-24) following a 26-24 win in the set during MAAC action.

Claire Archibald and Mia Bonsignore led the Iona (7-11, 5-2 MAAC) attack with respective kills of 14 and 13 while Archibald added 12 digs and three aces and Bonsignore totaled six blocks. Emma Rose set the offense with 43 assists in addition to seven digs. Taylor Cole matched Archibald with the team-high in service aces to go along with a team-best 15 digs.

Kelsey Ediger led the Red Foxes (6-10, 3-2 MAAC) with 11 kills and was joined in double-digit kills by Megan Fergus with 10 of her own. The duo also each recorded four blocks while Ashton Korona led the team with six. Katie Brierley netted a match-high 21 digs in addition to two service aces.

A 13-7 deficit in the opening set quickly turned into a 20-16 lead for the Maroon & Gold following a Marist attacking error. Back-to-back blocks from Bonsignore and Smith pushed the advantage to 23-19 for Iona before Smith recorded a service ace to secure a 25-20 win. Rose tallied 10 assists in the set as Archibald connected on five kills in addition to four digs while Cole added two aces.

In the second set, Marist turned a 12-12 tie into a 20-12 lead behind an 8-0 run that included three kills and two blocks. The Red Foxes used the margin to earn the victory that included the final two points behind a kill from Korona and an ace from Brierley.

Iona made a mid-set run in the third set to help take a 2-1 lead in the match behind another 25-20 win. Trailing 12-10, the Gaels sparked an 8-0 run starting with an Archibald kill and ace followed by four straight attacking errors from Marist that included blocks from Tess Connolly and Karla Johnson before another Archibald ace forced a timeout from the hosts. Archibald ended the set with her third kills of the game while Rose added 10 assists.

Trailing 18-9 in the fourth set, the Maroon & Gold looked to stage a comeback to earn the four-set victory, scoring 13 of the next 17 points to even the score at 22. With Marist facing set point at 24-22, Kassandra Darnaby connected on a kill before an attack error from the Red Foxes tied the game again at 24. After a Marist timeout, Johnson followed by Darnaby put the final two points on the board with a pair of kills to give Iona the 26-24 win and 3-1 match win.

Iona returns home next weekend for a pair of matches starting on Saturday against Canisius followed by Niagara on Sunday. Both matches are scheduled for 1:00 pm starts.