NEW YORK, NY - The Iona College volleyball team earned a split in the final day of the Big Apple Invitational on Saturday. The Gaels fell to host Columbia in the opener before sweeping St. Francis Brooklyn to earn their second win of the 2021 campaign.
GAME ONE (COLUMBIA 3, IONA 1)
In the opener, Columbia took the first set 25-15. Iona jumped out to an early 6-1 lead which was erased following a Lions stretch of seven of the next eight points. The Columbia run extended to 12-3 and a 13-9 lead. Iona would not get any closer than three the remainder of the frame. The Maroon & Gold bounced back with a dominating 25-13 set two win. Iona led 8-7 early and finished the set with a 17-6 run. Freshman
Nerin Valasakos (5 kills), and seniors
Alessandra Brady (4) and
Cassandra Patsos (3) combined for 12 kills in the second frame. Columbia completed the win with 25-20 and 25-15 set wins.
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Sophomore middle hitter
Jen Soto led the Gaels with 12 kills on 24 attempts with no errors. She added two blocks for a team leading 13.5 points. Valasakos had seven kills and a block and Patsos posted six kills. Sophomore setters
Tamara Pichardo led with 16 assists and three aces while sophomore libero
Hope Matschner had 21 digs and was perfect on 42 service receptions.Â
GAME TWO (IONA 3, ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN 0)
Just over an hour later, Iona took on St. Francis Brooklyn at Levien Gym, dispatching the Terriers 25-20, 25-23 and 27-25. Neither team could gain a lead greater than two points in the opening set until the Gaels scored the final four of the set in the five-point win. The middle set was equally tight as the first, although St. Francis held an early 6-2 advantage. Iona's largest lead of the third frame was three points, at 14-11 and 21-18.
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Soto continued a monster day, with 12 kills on 20 attempts and just one error. For the day she hit .535 in the two matches. Soto added two more blocks to lead the team with 13.0 points. Sophomore outside hitter
Emma Jacobs posted 10 kills, two aces and a block, Valasakos had seven kills and Patsos and junior
Julia Thomas posted six kills apiece. Pichardo was a dig shy of a double-double with 22 assists. Junior setter
Samantha Juran was two digs shy with 12 helpers. Matschner recorded 23 digs. She averaged 6.3 digs per set and was 57-for-57 on serve receptions.Â
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Soto and Valasakos were selected to the Big Apple Invitational All-Tournament Team, as announced by Columbia.
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