NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Entering the day needing one kill for her 1,000th of her career, junior
Claire Archibald put away the first point of a 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-11) sweep of Saint Peter's with a kill to become the 11th individual in program history to reach the mark.
Archibald finished the afternoon with 15 kills in three sets to now stand at 1,014 for her career. She also added seven digs and two aces. Meanwhile,
Alexandra Russo led the Maroon & Gold (9-14, 7-4 MAAC) with 20 digs while
Tess Connolly posted 16 digs and four kills.
Jamie Smith tallied 13 kills to go along with nine digs and four assists.
Emma Rose set for 37 assists in addition to five digs and three aces.
Karla Seda led the efforts for the Peacocks (0-21, 0-10 MAAC) with 12 digs and one ace. Caitlinn Williams added six kills and two blocks assists while Alexus Sharp registered one solo block and two block assists.
Starting the match off with her 1,000th kill, Archibald added 1,001 for her career on the very next point to help Iona jump ahead and eventually claim a 7-3 lead. Saint Peter's brought the sit to within one point at 9-8 after an attacking error, however, the Gaels strung together five straight points to rebuild the lead. The margin grew to eight points at 20-12 and proved to be enough as Archibald ended the set the same way she started, with a kill. The junior posted seven kills in the frame while Rose tallied 17 assists on 18 kills for Iona. Russo also posted nine digs to keep the Saint Peter's hitting percentage at .024.
The Gaels opened the second set with 12 of the first 14 points to establish a 12-2 lead following an Archibald ace. Leading 18-11 later in the game, the Maroon & Gold scored the final seven points to produce a 25-11 advantage that included kills from
Shaina Campbell,
Amanda Gannon and Smith. Smith and Archibald each led the team with four a kills a piece while Smith also four digs.
The momentum continued into the third set for Iona as the hosts built a 15-5 lead to open the final set. The margin was pushed back to 10 points at 21-11 after a Smith kill was the second of the final six points of the match for the Gaels, closed out by another Smith kill. Smith finished with five kills in the set while Archibald and
Mia Bonsignore each tallied four. Connolly and Russo anchored the defense with seven and six digs, respectively. Additionally,
Karla Johnson posted two kills and a pair of blocks, one solo and one assisted.
The Gaels return to the court with a trip to Quinnipiac next Saturday for a 1:00 pm start in Hamden, CT. The match is the first of five straight away dates for the Maroon & Gold before returning home on Sunday, November 5 for Senior Day against UMass Lowell.
