In their final match at the Buffalo Invitational, Marist volleyball took a set off the host team Buffalo Bulls, but ultimately lost the match, 3-1.
The Red Foxes went winless on Friday, dropping matches to both Liberty (3-0) and Rutgers (3-1); Saturday’s loss brings them to 0-3 on the young season.
“I know we’re 0-3, but I really like where we’re at in terms of the trajectory that we’re improving,” said head coach Sean Byron.
Marist came out the gates slow; in the first set, the Red Foxes committed seven attack errors and got aced by the Bulls four times. On the other side of the net, Buffalo’s offense dominated, converting 14 kills on only 28 swings, winning 25-19.
The Red Foxes evened the match at one set apiece after a strong second set, but Buffalo won a tight third set, 25-22, to put themselves in the driver’s seat. In the fourth, they got out to a 16-10 lead, but a run from Marist trimmed the deficit to 17-15. Ultimately, the Bulls hung on for another 25-19 victory.
Sara Dasic’s 14 kills capped a very strong first weekend for the junior outside hitter. Byron challenged her to be more aggressive on offense and continue to let off full swings even with big blocks in front of her, and that she did, consistently applying pressure on Buffalo.
“Thats the best match she’s played in two years,” said Byron.
Not only did Dasic lead Marist in kills, she did so with very efficient numbers: a .297 hitting percentage and a .378 kill percentage on her 37 total attacks this afternoon.
Mallory Reck, the other outside hitter, also put together a noteworthy weekend in her first taste of college volleyball. After leading Marist in kills during Friday’s matches, Reck got off to a slow start on Saturday.
She started out hitting in the negatives in the first two sets, recording more errors than kills. However, Reck bounced back and finished with 10 kills on a .125 hitting percentage.
“There’s not too many freshmen in the country that do that,” Byron said, impressed by how Reck turned her day around. “That’s just a mature attitude, the way that she deals with the game.”
Though freshman libero Haylee Wenner got the start in Marist’s season-opening match, Byron came away from the weekend impressed with junior CC Potter-Pessoa.
“CC played great all weekend… I think it’s CC’s position right now and she’s earned it,” Byron said. “Hopefully, the other three will continue to push her. We’ve got good depth.”
While Potter-Pessoa may have the position for the time being, nothing is guarenteed going forward. Byron spent much of their preseason practices shuffling four different liberos in and out of the starting position.
The Red Foxes only have three days of practice before they fly to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the Blue Raider Bash, hosted by Middle Tennessee. In the meantime, the primary focus is cleaning up their blocking presence at the net and improving their serve receive, something Byron already noticed some progress in against Buffalo.
“We got exposed yesterday in serve receive, but today our serve receive was better,” he said.
The weekend in Buffalo was by no means a failure, despite the 0-3 record that the Red Foxes head home with. Many other teams in the MAAC Conference picked up wins against inferior opponents. At the same time, Marist held its own against tough out-of-conference opponents.
“The big thing for me is to make sure that the freshmen don’t get disheartened being 0-3,” said Byron. “If we play that level of volleyball that we played at today against any team in the MAAC, I think that’s a win.”
Edited by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo by Ricky Torres
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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