BOSTON, MA -  The Iona University volleyball team dropped its final two matches of the weekend, dropping a tight three-set match to Northeastern (21-25, 21-25, 25-27) and a back-and-forth five-set thriller, (15-25, 26-24, 23-25, 30-28, 11-15) to Harvard on Saturday afternoon. Mackenzie Wiggins earned All-Tournament team honors, recording 31 kills and 11 digs across three matches.

MATCH ONE RECAP: 0-3 (21-25, 21-25,25-27)

With all three sets coming down to the wire, the Gaels began the opening frame scoring four straight points to lead, 4-2. A few points later, kills by Morgan Madasz and Jen Soto leveled the set at 8 but the Huskies answered winning four out of the following five points. Iona came back with an 8-4 run of their own and Madasz's second kill, deadlocked the set at 17. Trading runs, the Huskies used a late 7-2 run to create separation and a kill from Erica Staunton gave the home team the opening frame.

The second and third set both saw fierce late rallies from Iona, and after Northeastern opened up a 21-14 advantage, the Gaels called timeout. Following the break, Iona rattled off seven consecutive points fortified by clutch kills from Madasz, Wiggins, and Greta Stjade bringing the second set to its eighth tie. Northeastern countered winning the final four points of the set to pull within a set of the victory. Offensively, Iona put together its best set with 14 kills on a .250 attack percentage.

 Not bowing down easily, Iona fought off a total of seven match points showing impressive grit to get back into the set. The Huskies led by as much as nine and after back-to-back errors, Northeastern had match point leading, 24-18. The Gaels fought off the first three on an attack error, a kill from Wiggins and an ace from Samantha Juran. On the next point, Wiersma recorded a kill and after another ace from Juran, the Huskies called timeout but following the break, Juran tallied her third consecutive ace to deadlock the set at 24. Northeastern managed to retake the lead and now facing their seventh match point, the Gaels erased another, this time due to a kill from Madasz. However Northeastern managed to win the final two points, stop the rally and complete the three set victory.

MATCH ONE LEADERS

• Hope Matschner poured in a match-high, 24 digs 
• Juran finished with 13 assists and also a career-high four aces
• On the attack, Wiggins finished with eight kills while Madasz poured in seven

MATCH TWO RECAP: 2-3 (15-25, 26-24, 23-25, 30-28, 11-15)

Harvard got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 9-3 lead but five opening set kills from Madasz helped Iona trim the deficit to 15-13. However, the Crimson used a 10-2 run including the set's final five points, to close out the opening frame.

Iona jumped out to a 15-11 lead but six straight points from Harvard gave the home team the lead in the middle stages of the set. The Gaels answered the run, winning four straight points with Soto and Wiersma leading the offensive attacks with kills during the stretch. Tied at 20, an ace from Wiggins and two errors from Harvard gave Iona a 23-20 lead and two points later a Soto kill set up three set points. After Harvard fought off the sets points, the Maroon & Gold responded with kills from Madasz and Stjade to close out the set and even the match at a set apiece.

Harvard used a 5-1 swing to open up a 11-6 lead in the third set and after a kill from Ashley Wang the Crimson opened up a seven point cushion. Trailing 21-15, Iona climbed back into the set after an ace from Matschner and two kills from Wiggins but Harvard countered the run and another late kill from Wang, gave Harvard a 24-20 lead. Similar to the morning match, Iona fought off three set points but Harvard closed out the set on the fourth attempt to take two sets to one advantage.

In a thrilling fourth set, that saw an incredible 22 ties the Gaels showed the ultimate fight, saving three match points. Ariana White gave Harvard their first match point after a kill but that was erased on a clutch kill from Soto. Facing a second match point, Iona survived after a service error and later trailing 28-27, Elena Bianchi tallied a kill to keep the Gaels alive. Bianchi's late heroics continued, recording a kill on the following point and after an attack error Iona took the marathon set to send the match to a decider.

Iona found themselves with three leads in the final set and after a kill from Wiggins, the Gaels led 9-8. Unfortunately, tied at 10, Harvard finished the game winning five of the final six points to take the thrilling five setter. 

MATCH TWO LEADERS

• Madasz recorded a season-high 16 kills on an efficient attacking percentage of .467%. 
• Wiggins recorded a new career-high 15 kills and Soto was the third player in double-figures offensively with 10 kills
• Juran added a season-high 30 assists with Pichardo chipping in 19 helpers of her own. 
• Matschner recorded a match-high 21 digs in the loss

UP NEXT

The Gaels will begin MAAC play next weekend on the road where they'll face Siena and Marist to begin conference play. 

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