NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College volleyball team made a bid at upending defending MAAC Champion Fairfield this afternoon inside the Hynes Center, however, the Stags (6-6, 1-0 MAAC) managed to prevail in five sets (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 13-15) that included winning the final two games. The match marked the conference-opener for both teams.

The Gaels (2-9, 0-1 MAAC) created a 9-5 advantage in the final set before three straight kills from Skyler Day brought Fairfield to within one at 9-8 and followed with another kill later on to even the score at 11. A kill from Tess Connolly and an attacking error from Day gave the Maroon & Gold a 13-11 advantage. From there, the Stags scored the final four points that began with another kill from Day to end the set at 15-13 and earn the 3-2 victory. 

Day posted six of her team's nine kills in the fifth set to record 21 for the match in addition to nine digs. Manuela Nicolini set the offense for 49 assists while also chipping in 16 digs. Taylor Rudeen netted a team-best 20 digs to go along with five assists. Kaitlyn Fisher recorded six block assists at the net while also turning in 11 kills.

Claire Archibald led the Iona attack with 18 kills. The junior also added 11 digs, four assitss, two aces and one solo block to the effort. Connolly and Smith each netted 11 kills while Smith edged out Connolly by one dig at nine for the match in addition to her five total blocks (two solo, three assisted). Alexandra Russo registered a match-high 21 digs for the Gaels while Emma Rose distributed 40 assists. Mia Bonsignore provided seven kills and four block assists from the middle.

An 8-4 run at the end of the first set gave Fairfield the early 1-0 match advantage that included a 15-10 edge in kills. Both teams forced second and third opportunities with a combined 39 digs in the set as Fairfield earned the edge in that category as well, 23-16 despite seven from Russo in the frame.

Iona overcame a 12-9 deficit in the second set to earn a 25-21 victory that concluded with back-to-back kills from Smith. The two attacks were apart of five kills from Smith in the set as the Maroon & Gold posted a .359 hitting percentage in the set led by seven kils and a .600 percentage from Archibald. Bonsignore also helped keep Fairfield at a .162 percentage by being apart of both blocks in the set.

The momentum continued for the Gaels into the second set, building a 9-1 lead within the first 10 points. Iona managed to hold on for the game victory despite Fairfield coming within one point on two occasions, 22-21 and 23-22. Archibald pushed the lead back to two at 24-22 with a kill and the Maroon & Gold took advantage of an attacking error to secure the win.

Fairfield controlled a majority of the third set that started with a 9-3 lead and later turned into a 25-17 that included five straight points late in the game. Iona was held to a -.065 hitting percentage in the game while Luci Albertson controlled four of Fairfield's 10 kills to force the deciding fifth set.

Iona returns to action quickly inside the Hynes Center by hosting Quinnipiac tomorrow afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 pm.