WILLIAMSBURG, VA – The Iona College volleyball program dropped its opening match of the Colonial Classic in Kaplan Arena on Friday afternoon. The Georgetown Hoyas defeated the Maroon & Gold in straight sets (24-26, 17-25, 10-25).
MATCH SUMMARY
The Gaels battled off three set points in the first set before suffering an opening game defeat, 24-26. Iona trailed by as many as six in the opening set, but used a 6-0 spurt to tie the game at 22. After Georgetown went ahead and took a few points lead, the Gaels knotted the game at 24 before eventually being eked out.
The Hoyas won the second set 25-17 due in large part to a 7-2 run in the middle of the set. Iona had eight kills in the set, three of which came battling off set point for a second straight game. Georgetown led 24-12 before the Maroon & Gold battled for five points to get to 17 points. Sophomore
Cassandra Patsos had four of her team-leading nine kills in the set.
Iona was beaten in the third set, 25-10. Georgetown went on three separate 5-0 runs over the course of the set. Patsos wrapped up her effort with five kills in this fifth set.
Overall the Gaels hit .045 as a team compared to .202 for Georgetown. The Hoyas had 36 kills and 15 attack errors while the Gaels concluded with 28 kills and 23 attack errors. In set three, Georgetown had a .355 hitting percentage and .419 kill percentage.
Elissa Barbosa had a match-high 11 kills for Georgetown. Emma Plutnicki had 20 assists and three aces. Jessica Cusi had 13 digs. She was one of three Hoyas with double-digit digs.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Patsos was the match leader with 32 attack attempts. She also had a team-best 9.5 points and nine kills.
- Iona had a match-best .128 hitting percentage and .308 kill percentage in the first set.
- Sophomore Maile Powell had a team-best 17 assists of the team total 24. She also led the Maroon & Gold with two aces.
- Redshirt senior Jessica Paolucci had 11 digs and Powell wrapped up with nine digs.
- Senior Karla Johnson had three of Iona's eight block assists. She had a team-best four total blocks and was the only one with a solo block.
- Georgetown improves its record over Iona to 3-0 all-time. The last time these two teams had played against one another was in 2013 in Gainesville, FL where the Gaels fell in four sets.
UP NEXT
Tomorrow the Maroon & Gold return to action and face host William & Mary and UNC Greensboro t wrap up the Colonial Classic. First serve against the tribe is at 1:00 p.m. and the finale against the Spartans is set at 3:30.
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