NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College Volleyball team held off Niagara in five sets (25-18, 18-25, 25-16, 13-25, 17-15) to collect their second win in MAAC play in dramatic fashion. The Gaels fought off three match points late in the deciding set before closing out the match on consecutive clutch kills from senior
Cassandra Patsos.
GAME SUMMARY
Similar to yesterday's match the Maroon & Gold came out strong taking the first set from Niagara, 25-18. Iona put together a game-high 15 kills in the opening frame with six different Gaels contributing to the attack, each pouring in multiple kills. At 17-16, Iona closed out the set on a 8-2 run, and sophomore
Emma Jacobs closed the frame with a kill.
Set two started off back-and-forth with both teams trading leads, and no deficit being higher than two points. Niagara eventually pulled away in the set, winning 25-18 and using an 11-3 run to close out the frame. Jaycie Roberts controlled the set for the Purple Eagles posting six of her match-high 19 kills in the second frame.
Iona never trailed in the third set, regaining control of the match as kills from junior
Fleur Wiersma and Patsos set the tone, giving the Maroon & Gold a 7-1 advantage. Niagara fought back in the set but freshman
Nerin Valasakos proved to be too much, posting four of her 13 kills in the set and leading Iona down the stretch. The Gaels won the set 25-18, and sophomore
Kiarra Roth closed the frame out with a kill.
The fourth set was the most decisive of the five with Niagara taking charge and never trailing. Quickly the Purple Eagles went up 13-6, capitalizing on eight attack errors from the Gaels who finished with 13 in the frame. Iona had a negative hitting percentage of .079 and on the other side Niagara took advantage posting their match-high 321. At 24-13, Mary Redl finished the set with a kill for Niagara, bringing us to a fifth and final set for the second straight day.
The fifth set came down to the wire with both teams trading runs throughout. The first run came from Niagara, tied at three the Purple Eagles went on a 7-2 run giving them a 10-5 lead. The Gaels quickly recovered, winning the next five points to draw even in the deciding set, kills from sophomore Soto and Jacobs propelled Iona during this crucial stretch.
After an attack error Niagara had two match points, but Iona managed to fight them off with a kill and an ace from sophmore
Jen Soto to even the score at 14. After a close call, Niagara had one more match point but once again Iona showed off their resiliency fighting it off and knotting us up at 15. Patsos did the rest for Iona, finishing the match off with two straight massive kills to give Iona the set 17-15, and most importantly the win at the Hynes Center.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
In the victory, three Gaels recorded double-doubles with Patsos adding a team-high 14 kills to go along with 12 digs. Junior
Samantha Juran added 10 digs while handing out a game-high 34 assists and Valasakos continued her strong start to her career in Maroon & Gold pouring in 13 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore
Hope Matschner contributed with a team-high 19 digs as well in the winning effort.
UP NEXT
Iona looks to complete the season sweep when they travel to Manhattan next saturday Oct. 9 for an afternoon contest on ESPN3. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA
