STORRS, CT - After opening the day with a 3-0 (12-25, 11-25, 16-25) setback to the University of Connecticut, the Iona College volleyball team came back to defeat the University of Hartford 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-13). The two matches were part of the first day of the Dog Pound Invitational hosted by UConn.

Match Two
Facing a 2-1 deficit in the second match of the day, the Gaels (2-3) rallied for a 25-14 fourth set victory to force a fifth set against the Hawks (0-5). With Alexandra Russo serving, the Maroon & Gold ran together a 7-0 run to claim an early 8-2 advantage in the game. Another long run of 8-0 for Iona pushed the lead to 21-9 that included three straight service aces from Claire Archibald at the back end of the spurt. Mia Bonsignore closed out the set with a kill.

Iona faced a 12-7 deficit in the fifth set before stringing together an 8-1 run to close out the set and match win. In the final eight points, Jamie Smith came up with three kills while Emma Rose served the final five points that included an ace. 

The Maroon & Gold finished the match with a collective .269 hitting percentage that included percentages of .481 and .423 in the third and fourth sets respectively. Archibald accumulated 23 kills throughout the five sets with a .462 percentage to go along with eight digs and five service aces. Tess Connolly joined Archibald in double-digit kills with 11 to go with six digs and an ace. Smith filled the stat sheet with 15 assists, eight kills and six digs while Rose posted 35 assists, nine digs and two aces. 

Hartford was paced by 16 service aces that included a match-high from six from Jenna Bridges. Bridges also added 10 kills for a team-high while Megan Anderson recorded 16 assists, five aces and four digs. 

Match One
The host Huskies finished the opening match of the weekend with a collective team hitting percentage of .342 led by 11 kills and a .421 percentage from Kayla Williams. Meanwhile, Iona was held to a -.040 percentage with Archibald leading the team attack with eight kills. Defensively, Connolly finished with six digs. 

UConn also used eight service aces to its advantage, a matching number of service errors for the Maroon & Gold. Williams posted four of the aces in the second set alone as the Huskies needed just 11 kills to earn the 25-11 win. Archibald and Smith pushed the Iona offense with three kills each in the third set, however, Kenya Cason paced the hosts with five kills to close out the three-set victory.

The Gaels close out the two-day, three-match Dog Pound Invitational tomorrow morning with an 11:00 am first serve against LSU.