WEST POINT, NY – The Iona College volleyball program dropped the final two matches of the Army Invitational at Gillis Field House on Saturday, Sept. 1.
MATCH RECAP: New Hampshire 3, Iona 1 (16-25, 16-25, 25-19, 8-25)
New Hampshire won the opening set, 25-16. The Wildcats hit .296 as a team on 27 attack attempts. The Gaels hit .182 and each team had 11 kills. The Maroon & Gold had three service errors and was subject to four UNH aces.
The Wildcats used a seven-point spurt to take a 17-10 lead in the second set. The finished the set with another 25-16 decision. The Gaels hit .100 in set with UNH hitting .379. Iona had four attack errors and two service errors.
The Maroon & Gold's first steady lead in the opening moments of the third set. Leading early 8-4, Iona began the game hitting .375 while New Hampshire swung with a negative percentage in its first 14 attack attempts. The Wildcats ventured back and took a 10-9 edge as the hitting percentage evened out. The Gaels didn't back down, instead increasing its offensive prowess and forcing a fourth set, 25-19. The Maroon & Gold had three aces and three blocks in the set.
New Hampshire rediscovered its offense in the fourth and final set. The Wildcats won the match 3-1 with a 25-8 final frame.
Senior
Karla Johnson had 10 kills to lead the Maroon & Gold. Junior
Jamie Smith had nine kills and sophomore
Cassandra Patsos contributed eight. Patsos and teammate
Alessandra Brady each had three blocks. Sophomore
Maile Powell had 21 assists, the second-highest total in her career. RS Senior
Jessica Paolucci had a team-best 10 digs.
New Hampshire's Abby Sullivan had a match-high 15 kills. She had an attack percentage of .652. Six different Wildcats had five or more kills. Kennedi Smith and Hannah Crist each had four blocks. Emily Tanski dug out a match-high 17.
MATCH RECAP: Army 3, Iona 0 (9-25, 12-25, 20-25)
The Gaels fell in the opening set, 25-9. Their two kills in the set both came from
Jamie Smith. Army won the second set, 25-12. The Maroon & Gold hit -0.31% in the frame and had seven attack errors. The Black Knights had five service aces and hit .200 as a squad.
Army won the third, most balanced set of the match, 25-20. Each team hit .111 and each team had 36 attack attempts. The Maroon & Gold had three service errors and the Black Knights had three service aces.
Smith had a team-high five kills. Powell had nine assists, Paolucci collected five digs and Johnson blocked three attack attempts.
Army was led by Emmy Barnhorst, who had 10 kills on 16 digs. Nikki Lim and Hannah Presley had 30 of the Black Knights' 32 total assists; they had 14 and 16, respectively. Ana Oglivie had 16 digs. Allie Strong had seven service aces.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- New Hampshire was voted fourth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- Army entered the opening weekend of NCAA Volleyball play ranked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Coaches' Poll. They had two first place votes.
- The Gaels are now 1-2 all-time against New Hampshire and 1-3 against Army.
- Yesterday's opponent Rhode Island was voted 10th in the A-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- Iona did not have a single ace in Saturday's finale against Army. The Gaels had at least one ace in every single match during the 2017 and 2018 season. The last time the Maroon & Gold didn't have an ace was against Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 17, 2016.
UP NEXT
The Maroon & Gold return to action at the UConn Challenge beginning on Thursday, Sept. 5 against the Huskies. The Gaels will also face off against Central Connecticut and Boston College on Friday and Saturday. The entire tournament takes place in Storrs, CT at Harry Gampel Pavilion.
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