NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College volleyball program dropped a pair of matches to the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions Fairfield on Sunday afternoon. The preseason favorites got a battle from the Gaels in match one but earned a 3-1 (22-25, 25-11, 19-25, 21-25) victory. The Stags swept the Maroon & Gold in the second match, 3-0 (17-25, 16-25, 19-25).
MATCH ONE RECAP: Loss, 1-3 (22-25, 25-11, 19-25, 21-25)
It its home-opening match, the Gaels came out with energy. Kills from
Jamie Smith and
Fleur Wiersma pushed the Maroon & Gold up early on Fairfield. The Stags chipped away at the Maroon & Gold advantage and tied the game at 13. Head coach
Esai Velez-Perez called timeout in attempt to quell Fairfield's charge, but the horns of Fairfield kept creeping onward. The Gaels could not get over the hump after falling behind 17-13. The Stags took the first set, 25-22.
Iona's second set against Fairfield was its most dominant of the young season. The Stags had only six kills and 11 errors while the Gaels threw down nine kills and committed only two miscues. The Maroon & Gold jumped out to a 5-0 lead and three consecutive Fairfield errors made it 9-2 in the home team's favor. Iona's ended the set with its largest margin of the game, 25-11.
Iona's only leads in the third came early. Once the Stags got a kill from Joelle battle to take a 4-3 lead, they did not allow the Gaels to creep toward victory. Kyle Berg delivered an ace to push Fairfield ahead 18-13. Seeger was everywhere to close out the third set for the Stags. She had five kills in Fairfield's final nine points of its 25-19 win.
Fighting for its life to stay in the match, Iona remained in striking distance for the start of the fourth set. Untimely errors by the Gaels put them behind by a handful. The Stags had used a five-point run to take a 18-13 lead. Timely kills from Seeger and Battles ended the match, 25-21.
Iona finished its first match on Sunday with a .127 hitting percentage. Service errors were costly with the Maroon & Gold committing 12.
MATCH ONE LEADERS
- Jamie Smith finished match one with a team-high 10 kills to go along with 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. Smith had 42 attack attempts.
- Hope Matschner and Fleur Wiersma each had seven kills. Matschner had an early career-high 12 digs. Wiersma had a match-best six blocks.
- Taylor Cole finished match one with a season-high 18 digs.
- Fairfield's Joelle Battle and Laura Seeger each had 13 kills. Battles Georgia Via had a match-high 32 digs and Manuela Nicolini had 36 assists.
MATCH TWO RECAP: Loss, 0-3 (17-25, 16-25, 19-25)
Fairfield showed their prowess in Sunday's second match. The Stags held Iona to .068 hitting percentage and the Gaels had only 24 kills total in three sets.
The deciding sequence in set one came from the first serve. The Stags opened the game on a 10-3 run, during which the Gaels had four attack errors. Iona never got closer than four points and as the first game wound down it was a soft landing for Fairfield in a 25-17 ending.
Head coach
Esai Velez-Perez dove into his bag in the second start starting
Emma Jacobs and
Kiarra Roth instead of
Jamie Smith and Hope Matchsner. Neither traditional starters so action during the second set. The youth of the Gaels again fell behind 10-3, and unlike the first half, the deficit continued to grow. Iona had a match-high seven errors in the second set and hit exactly 0.0%.
The traditional starters returned to the floor to begin the third set and Iona's offense did raise its level a bit. However, the improve was not enough. The Stags had the Gaels doubled up at 10-5, 12-6, 14-7 and 16-8. The Maroon & Gold showed fight at the end of the match with a 7-1 run to make it a respectable 25-19 ending.
MATCH TWO LEADERS
- Alessandra Brady and Jamie Smith each had six kills for the Maroon & Gold.
- Tamara Pichardo, in her first start of her collegiate career, had a team-best and career-high 14 assists.
- Taylor Cole was the only Iona player with double-digit digs; she finished with 12.
- Fleur Wiersma had five total digs for the Gaels. Jamie Smith and Emma Jacobs each had three blocks.
- Laura Seeger had 11 kills on 28 attack attempts. Four different Stags had six kills. Manuella Nicolini passed out 27 assists and had 12 digs for a double-double.
- Goergia Via dug out a match-best 16 digs.
UP NEXT
It is a short respite for the Gaels as they return to action on Thursday, March 18 hosting Saint Peter's in the Hynes Center. Head coach
Esai Velez-Perez and the team will be celebrating senior day and honoring Smith and Cole prior to the match.
The doubleheader from New Rochelle begins at 11 a.m. ET and the second game is tentatively scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Both games between the Gaels and Peacocks will be aired on ESPN3. Fans can also follow along with live stats and across Iona social media platforms.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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