STONY BROOK, NY - The Iona College volleyball program was unable to force a fifth set this evening as host Stony Brook claimed a 28-26 fourth set win on the way to the non-conference 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 17-25, 26-28) victory.
Emma Rose set for a match-high 44 assists to go along with seven digs and one ace while
Claire Archibald led the Gaels (8-13) with 19 kills behind a .283 hitting percentage in addition to 10 digs and two aces.
Mia Bonsignore joined Archibald in double-digit kills with 14 on a .303 hitting percentage.
Taylor Cole led the Maroon & Gold with 12 digs.
The Seawolves (13-7) were led by a .324 hitting percentage and 16 kills from Liz Pulver to go with three block assists while Emily Costello added 12 kills and 11 digs. LeAnne Sakowicz recorded 38 assists in addition to 11 digs, 10 shy of the match-high of 21 from Kiani Kerstetter.
With the teams even at 21 in the first set, Stony Brook benefited from a service error and a bad set from Iona to claim the crucial two-point lead late in the game. Following a
Tess Connolly kill to cut the deficit, Costello and Pulver notched back-to-back kills to secure the 25-22 opening set win for the hosts. Connolly recorded a set-high seven kills in the effort for the Gaels, who held a 13-8 advantage in kills for the game. However, Stony Brook used six blocks to force 11 Iona attacking errors. The Maroon & Gold were also hurt by five service errors.
Bonsignore used three of her six kills in the second set during the final four points of the game to help reverse the score for Iona with a 25-22 victory to even the match at 1-1. Iona took the lead at 11-10 with two straight points as Smith connected for a kill followed by
Alexandra Russo pushing the edge in favor of the Gaels with a service ace. Bonsignore tallied a .417 hitting percentage towards her six kills in the frame while Archibald registered three kills on four attempts in addition to five digs. Rose added 11 assists to pace the offense.
Tied at 1-1 in the third set, Stony Brook broke a 9-9 with a 7-1 run that included two kills from Costello. The run proved to create enough of a margin for the Seawolves who later ended the game with the final three points to pick up a 25-17 win and push the match edge to 2-1. Archibald finished with six kills in the effort while Bonsignore added five compared to five from Pulver to lead Stony Brook. Both team recorded efficient hitting percentages in the set as the Seawolves earned the edge with a .370 percentage compared to .344 for the Gaels.
The largest lead of the fourth set was just three points as Stony Brook led 11-8 following a kill from Pulver. Facing match point, a block from
Karla Johnson and Smith and a Stony Brook attacking error tied the game at 24 for Iona. As the two teams traded points, the Seawolves scored the needed final two points with a kill from Cydney Bowman and an Iona attacking error.
