The Marist women’s volleyball team earned their second straight victory on Sunday afternoon against the Manhattan Jaspers. With that win, the Red Foxes are now third in the MAAC with a 9-4 conference record.
Marist came up with a dominant performance when these teams last faced off on September 25th, taking the match at home in straight sets.
“I think we really played well, especially coming off of playing five sets yesterday,” Gabriella Heimbauer said.
The beginning of the first set was tight, as neither team was able to gain a significant advantage. With the score standing at 8-7 in favor of the home team, Marist went on a 7-2 run to take a six-point lead going into the media timeout. The Jaspers would cut the deficit to as low as four, but the Red Foxes continued to control the set. Marist took three of the last five points to win the first set by a score of 25-20. The Red Foxes were dominant at the net in the opening set, holding a 14-10 advantage in kills.
It was more of the same in the second set, as the largest lead for either side through the first 19 points was just three. Marist pulled away in the end, taking six of the last nine points to win the second set 25-18. Once again, the home team won the battle at the net, leading in kills with 13 and creating three service aces.
Manhattan got off to a much better start in the third, taking a 15-9 lead before the media timeout. It looked like the Jaspers were going to send the match to the fourth set, but the Red Foxes battled back to tie it at 21-21. Marist would then go on a 6-4 run to take the third and final set 27-25.
“There was a lot of 50/50 plays but the team stayed composed and won a lot of those rallies,” head coach Sean Bryon said.
Sophomore Gabriella Heimbauer was the outstanding performer for the Red Foxes in the afternoon. The outside hitter from Massapequa, New York had a team-high 22 points and 21 kills. Senior McKinley Fox had an all-around great performance against the Jaspers as well.
Marist returns to play on October 30th at 1 p.m., when they face the Rider Broncs at McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie, New York. The Broncs won the previous matchup between these teams on October 3rd, taking the match in five sets. The Red Foxes are 29-218 against Rider all-time, including an eight-match win streak that stretched from 2011-2014.
Edited by Connor Kurpat
Photo Credit: Bridget Reilly