LOUDONVILLE, NY - The Iona College volleyball team picked up its fourth five-set victory this afternoon with a 3-2 win at Siena (25-14, 25-16, 25-27, 28-30, 15-11) to start the first of two MAAC matches this weekend.

The Gaels (6-11, 4-2 MAAC) opened the match with two convincing set wins before the Saints (0-16, 0-5 MAAC) claimed two extra-point set wins to force a deciding fifth set. In the final set, Claire Archibald attacked for four kills on six attempts while adding four digs to push the Maroon & Gold to a 15-11 win as Emma Rose added six assists.

Jamie Smith led Iona with 19 kills to go along with eight digs, eight assists and three blocks. Archibald added 18 kills, 13 digs and six service aces along with three block assists to total 25.5 points. Rose finished with 36 assists in addition to four service aces while Mia Bonsignore added eight kills and six block assists as the team totaled 10.0 total blocks. 

Dakota Jackson was the lone Saint to reach double-digit kills with 16 go pair with seven digs and three service aces. Jess Eblin set the offense with 44 assists and also added eight digs and three service aces. Jojo Ishida recorded a match-high 18 digs. 

An 11-4 run in the first broke a 4-4 tie in the opening set started with a Smith kill and a Taylor Cole ace. Bonsignore started a 5-0 stretch during that run to push the score to 15-7 for the Gaels. With a 23-13 advantage, Iona scored two of the final three points with Bonsignore and Tess Connolly connecting on kills. Smith registered five kills in the set as the Gaels recorded a .500 hitting percentage with 13 kills.

The Gaels started off the second set with eight of the first 10 points on the way to taking a 2-0 lead with a 25-16 win. The Maroon & Gold secured the victory with two straight blocks to end the match as Bonsignore and Connolly assisted on the pair. Connolly joined Archibald with the team-high of three kills in the game while Archibald and Rose connected on four of the team's five aces.

With three points being the biggest lead for either team in the third set, Antonija Ivanovic connected on two straight kills to win the frame for the Saints in extra points at 27-25. Jackson helped effort the victory for Siena with six kills in the game while hitting .545. 

Despite seven kills from Archibald and six from Smith in the fourth, Siena was able to battle at the end of the fourth set to produce an extra-point 30-28 win and force the fifth set. Iona had a chance for the victory at with a 25-24 lead, however, a service error kept the Saints in the set. Following a block from Bonsignore and Kassandra Darnaby at 26-25, Siena once again avoided the fourt-set loss with a kill from Karli Rodriguez. A pair of Iona attacking errors concluded the set in straight points for Siena.

Tied at 8-8 in the final set, a Smith kill sparked a 7-3 run to end the set and match as Archibald connected on the final kill. Connolly helped the run with two of her service aces in the game.

The Gaels quickly return to the court tomorrow afternoon with a trip to Poughkeepsie to face Marist. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 pm.