POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Iona University volleyball team came up short, falling in straight sets (15-25, 20-25, 26-28) to Marist on Sunday afternoon at McCann Arena. Despite falling behind the Gaels continued to battle, fighting off two match points in a thrilling last set before
eventually falling to the Red Foxes.
Match SUMMARY
Set 1 (15-25)
Marist jumped out to a 15-6 lead, powered by a balanced offensive attack with five different players recording a kill for the home team. Trying to climb back into the set,
Morgan Madasz chipped in her third kill of the frame, trimming the deficit to 19-12.
Elena Bianchi scored the Gaels last point of the frame on a kill but Marist won the final two points to take the opening set.
Set 2 (20-25)
Trailing 13-6, Iona countered with a 6-2 run led by kills from
Greta Stjade, Madasdz,
Jen Soto and
Fleur Wiersma during the stretch. The Gaels got as close as 20-18, following a kill from Soto and consecutive aces from
Samantha Juran but Marist closed out the frame on a 5-2 run to pull within a set of the victory.
Set 3 (26-28)
Neither school managed to create any separation in an exciting back-and-forth set that saw 20 ties and nine lead changes. Offensively, Iona recorded 16 kills with
Mackenzie Wiggins tallying five of them in the tight set. After an ace from Wiggins, Iona led 23-21 but Marist responded with three straight points to give the Red Foxes a match point. Stjade picked up a clutch kill assisted from Juran, to keep Iona alive and two points later, the Gaels fought off their second match point after an attack error from Marist. Soto gave Iona a set point on a clutch kill, but that was erased and answered with Marist winning the final two points of the match to earn the three-set win.
STAT LEADERS
- Hope Matschner poured in a match-high 27 digs, as the junior continues to lead the MAAC in digs at 271 and digs/set at 6.6.
- Wiggins and Bianchi combined for 15 kills while Soto and Stajde both finished with 5.
- Juran and Tamara Pichardo chipped in 28 of the Gaels 32 assists on the afternoon.
Around the MAAC
- Canisius 3, Quinnipiac 2
- Fairfield 3, Niagara 0
- Siena 3, Manhattan 0
UP NEXT:
The Gaels will travel to NJIT on Wednesday, September 21st for their non-conference finale that'll wrap up a nine game road trip for Iona.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
IonaGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Volleyball: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
