Outside of a late second-set hiccup, the Brown Bears controlled Marist in their 3-1 victory, handing the Red Foxes their sixth consecutive loss heading into MAAC Conference play.
Sophomore middle blocker Sophia Wolfson was far and away the most influential player on the court on Sunday afternoon, both Marist and Brown’s final match at the UConn Classic in Storrs.
Wolfson landed 13 kills on only 21 swings, but her true dominance came on defense. She finished at 12 total blocks, with five of them being solo blocks.
When not getting stuffed by Wolfson at the net, Marist bounced back after lackluster offensive showings in their previous five matches, all losses in straight sets. The Red Foxes finished the afternoon at a .200 hitting percentage, their highest since their win against UT Martin on Sept. 6.
Junior outside hitter Sara Dasic led with 14 kills on a stellar .429 hitting percentage; sophomore right-side hitter Taylor Miller and freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck both finished in double digits as well, with 10 kills each.
Setter Claire Lewis even got in on the scoring, as the graduate student setter found the Bears’ side of the floor with four crafty setter dumps, catching Brown off guard to help get Marist out of tough rotations.
Brown and Marist traded points early, and with the set tied at six apiece, the Bears momentarily pulled away. They quickly won five straight points; both senior middle blocker Isabella Bonatakis and junior outside hitter Ally Panzloff converted two kills.
Freshman setter Caelyn Dumas helped bring Marist back in it with tough serving, culminating in a set-tying ace off the arms of senior libero Jessie Golden, back-to-back winner of the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Red Foxes never overtook the lead. Trailing by one at 19-18, Brown went on a 6-1 run to put itself at set point. A Miller kill and Dumas ace, her third of the set, prolonged the first frame, but Wolfson slammed a kill to close the book on the Bears’ 25-21 win.
Wolfson and senior outside hitter Mariia Sidorova dominated the early going in the second set; Wolfson had two kills, a solo block and two block assists, and Sidorova added two kills of her own. 10 points in, Brown led 8-2, and Byron already used both of his timeouts.
The Red Foxes chipped away from there, getting within one at 13-12, but a 5-1 Brown stretch gave them a comfortable cushion. The Bears clamped down on Marist at the net, recording six blocks in the set alone.
Marist fought all the way back, eventually taking its first lead since 1-0 at 24-23 on four consecutive kills by a suddenly red-hot Dasic and an attack error by Sidorova. Two points later, Dasic clinched the set with an ace, breaking a streak of 16 consecutive set losses.
Aided by four Brown errors, Marist jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the ensuing frame before head coach Taylor Virtue burned a timeout. It did not initially slow the Red Foxes down, who ballooned the lead to 8-1, but the Bears rattled off five straight points themselves to prevent Marist from running away.
An 8-0 Bears run flipped the set on its head, turning their four-point deficit into a four-point advantage at 19-15. From there, Brown coasted to a 25-20 win.
Brown effectively used strong scoring streaks to distance itself from the Red Foxes all afternoon, but especially in the final two sets. Marist and Brown split the first 14 points of the fourth, but a 5-0 streak gave the Bears all the breathing room they needed, as they went on to win, 25-19.
The Red Foxes knew what they got themselves into when scheduling their tough non-conference schedule, but it does not make their 1-10 record any easier to look at. Luckily for them, the losses have no bearing on conference standings. The MAAC season finally starts on Friday, and brings a fresh 0-0 record with it.
Marist opens its MAAC schedule at McCann Arena against Rider on Friday at 7 p.m.; the match also marks the Red Foxes’ home opener in 2025.
Edited by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo from Marist Athletics
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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