LOUDONVILLE, NY - The Iona University Volleyball Team was defeated by Canisius in the second round of the 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship Friday night. The Gaels finished their postseason in the second round for the second year running, in their first MAAC Championship matchup with the Golden Griffins since winning the title in 2018.
Three Gaels finished with double figures in kills in a night that saw five players take the court for the last time in Maroon & Gold.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Gaels went into the media timeout down by a score of 11-15, trailing by as many as five in the opening moments. A
Jordan Ader sub allowed the offense to start finding their groove, with the Senior tossing out three assists early.
Mija Jegers led the Maroon & Gold with five kills, the best of which being an impressive swing from the back row assisted by Ader.
The Gaels knotted it up at 22 and took the lead from an insane rally that saw
Grace Ehler and
Jen Soto stuff Canisius with assisted blocks after
Sanem Bas saved the Gaels with a sky ball from the very back wall of the UHY Center. Despite coming back to bring the game to extra deciding points, the Gaels would fall 24-26 in the first set.Â
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Notwithstanding the first point, the Maroon & Gold carried the lead the entire way into the midway break with a largest margin of three after a successful challenge from
Andy Mueller.Â
Back from commercial, the Gaels grabbed three straight, forcing a Griffs timeout after a nasty service ace from
Mija Jegers.Â
Jen Soto led the Gaels through the second stanza with five kills, with Iona hitting .220 as a unit to take their first set victory of the night, 25-22. Â
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A kill each for Mija Jegers and
Grace Ehler opened the scoring for Iona in the third. The first half of the third set would see another successful challenge from the Iona coaching staff in a close third set that saw four lead changes before the midway point.
A five-point streak for the Griffs late in the set would push them into the lead and eventually match point, where the Gaels would together a gritty 3-0 run before dropping the third 23-25.Â
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Despite an early ace from
Mija Jegers, the Gaels carried their largest disadvantage of the night into the midway point of the fourth, down by a dozen. Clawing back,
Emma Vu tossed out three assists on a 5-0 Gaels run to force a Griffs timeout.
The gap would end up being too large to fill, however, with Canisius taking the set 25-17. The Gaels would exit Loudonville with a 1-3 Loss. Â
IONA PERFORMERS
- Mija Jegers finished with a double-double in a night that saw her swing for 14 kills and tally 15 digs. The Lincolnshire, Illinois native also finished with four service aces and a solo block.Â
- Jen Soto had a dozen kills and seven assisted blocks. The Graduate closed out her career as a Gael with a 15.5-point outing.Â
- Grace Ehler was the second Gael with double-digit kills and seven assisted blocks, swinging for a total of 10 kills and tallying three digsÂ
- Sanem Bas led all players on court with 25 digs. The Bursa, Turkey native's total counted for a personal career-high.Â
- Emma Vu ended up one short of a season-high in assists with 34. The Senior landed three service aces and tallied eight digs. Â
THE OPPONENT
- Kara Zaucha led all players on court with 22 kills. She finished the night with a double-double with 10 digs.
- Ella Bourque ran the Griffs' offense with 39 assists.Â
Thank you
The Gaels wrap up their season in Loudonville, finishing with an 11-21 record on the season. Thank you to each and every member of Gael Nation for your support.Â
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