West Virginia’s Saturday evening sweep of Marist sent the Red Foxes back to Poughkeepsie with a winless weekend at the Jack Kaiser Classic in Queens, as they fall to 1-8 on the season.
West Virginia entered Saturday night sporting a perfect record, 7-0, so far on the young season. On Friday night, they swept the tournament host, St. John’s, hours after the Red Storm took care of Marist with a 3-0 victory of their own.
Redshirt junior opposite Trinity Sheridan led the Mountaineers with 10 kills, but West Virginia used effective serving and stout defense to control the Red Foxes.
Marist’s middle blockers put up good numbers in the loss; sophomore Sarah Bumstead swung for five kills on eight attempts, while redshirt junior Mikayla Keefer converted on both of her swings. Both players recorded a block assist, and Bumstead added a solo block.
The Mountaineers won a no-sweat first set after building a comfortable lead from the service line, placing four aces as they jumped out to a 15-7 lead. In the same span, Marist’s attempted aggression from the line came back to bite them, as the Red Foxes missed three serves.
Junior outside hitter Sara Dasic got hot, serving two aces as Marist rattled off three straight points. West Virginia answered quickly; six straight points swiftly put the set out of reach as junior middle blocker Maddy McGath scored two kills, and the Mountaineers won the set 25-14.
Marist drew first blood in the second, as kills from Bumstead and freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck pushed the Red Foxes to a 6-4 lead. The Mountaineers countered Marist’s strong start by winning 10 of the ensuing 11 points to take control of the set.
Though it did not change the outcome, the Red Foxes fought late in the set. Bumstead got a block assist and a kill while sophomore outside hitter Eden Bristow scored a kill of her own on a 6-1 Marist run that cut the deficit to five.
West Virginia bore down from there, winning the next four points to claim the set, 25-16. The Mountaineers built off their fierce end to the second set, instantly taking a 6-1 lead. To Marist’s credit, they did not wither at the sight of the large deficit.
The Red Foxes trimmed the lead to three, but that was as close as they’d get; freshman right side hitter Anna Barr, McGath and Sheriden tormented the Marist defense as West Virginia ballooned the lead to double digits, ultimately winning the set 25-14 to clinch the sweep.
Marist makes its final out-of-conference road trip next weekend in Storrs, Conn., for the UConn Classic. There, they take on the hosting Huskies on Saturday, then Brown on Sunday.
The Red Foxes’ 1-8 record does not look good on paper, but Marist has shown massive improvement in comparison to its 2024 campaign. At this point in the season last year, the Red Foxes still had not won a set.
The young team has grown thanks to their experiences against tough opponents, but Marist also has an experienced reinforcement coming soon; graduate student setter Claire Lewis remains on track to return ahead of MAAC play, set to begin on Sept. 26.
Before turning its attention to in-conference opponents, Marist continues its out-of-conference schedule against UConn next Saturday at 4 p.m.
Edited by Mike Schiavone
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
Graphic by Isabel Cortese
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