In the last non-conference match before a six-week sprint to the end of the season, Marist took down Holy Cross in five, grueling sets.
Tuesday night’s match marked a break in MAAC action for Marist (6-12, 4-1 MAAC), but it still stood as another game in their exhausting schedule, marking their sixth game in 11 days. The Red Foxes trailed 2-1, but rallied to win the match, 3-2 (26-24, 26-28, 17-25, 25-20, 15-10).
Marist controlled the decisive fifth set, jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the first-to-15 battle. Holy Cross (5-15, 0-6 Patriot League) did not back down in the face of a late deficit, a common theme throughout the match.
Though they chipped away, Marist’s offense came through at timely moments; freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck bounced back after a slow start on Tuesday night and scored three kills, including the game-winner.
The Red Foxes got big contributions in the fifth set from freshman right-side hitter Eleana Koute and sophomore middle blocker Savannah Smith, who both had two kills. Koute set a career high in the match with 13 kills, doing so on a .345 hitting percentage. She even made a clutch, one-armed block on freshman middle blocker Isa Glover to put Marist at match point.
“That was the best I think we’ve ever played,” Koute said of Marist’s fifth set. “It was so satisfying.”
Smith also had a career night in her first start of the season; the sophomore had five kills on only seven swings and even added four total blocks. Smith had not seen much time in the season yet, but head coach Sean Byron called her name, giving redshirt junior middle blocker Mikayla Keefer the night off.
“I was so excited,” Smith said. I’ve worked so hard for this, I didn’t want to do anything but kill it.”
“Savannah’s been doing a good job in practice, and we wanted to give her a shot to play in a match,” Byron added.
Sara Dasic, who was named MAAC Player of the Week, put together another stellar outing. The junior outside hitter recorded a double-double, with 13 kills and 12 digs.
At the 15-point media timeout in the first set of play, Holy Cross had committed as many errors as they had kills; they added two missed serves, giving away seven free points as Marist took a 15-11 lead. Koute carried the Marist offense in the early going, slamming four kills, while also adding a block on defense.
An ace from junior libero CC Potter-Pessoa, which had sophomore defensive specialist Alana Whitwell off guard, gave Marist a 17-12 advantage. Still, Holy Cross promptly scored six straight points despite two timeouts from Byron.
Facing their first deficit of the set, the Red Foxes rattled off a four-point streak of their own to take the lead back.
Dasic smashed a kill off a perfect pass and set by Reck and freshman setter Caelyn Dumas, graduate student setter Claire Lewis found the floor with a sneaky dump then Smith recorded a clutch block to end a lengthy rally. Suddenly, Marist flipped a one-point deficit into a two-point advantage.
Still, the Crusaders did not go away, even when the Red Foxes reached set point. Trailing 24-21, Holy Cross scored three straight to tie, but Reck took care of the set from there.
It had been an otherwise quiet set for Reck, as the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week only scored one kill on 10 swings and made five attack errors. At 24 all, Reck converted, then went to the service line.
She ripped a topspin serve that elicited a tight pass, which senior setter Katie Russell attempted to dump over the net. Dasic had other plans, stuffing the attack and clinching the set for Marist.
Despite facing another late-set deficit in the second, Holy Cross rallied back to fend off three set points and tie the score at 24, thanks to back-to-back key blocks by sophomore middle blocker Lacey Murphy and freshman outside hitter Ava White.
Marist and Holy Cross traded errors and kills, then sophomores outside-hitter Eden Bristow and right-side hitter Gabby Flamish each made errors, giving the set away to lose 28-26. All told, Marist made seven errors on the Crusaders’ final eight points scored.
Holy Cross hit its stride on offense to close the fourth set, recording kills on four of the set’s final five points. They looked unstoppable, while on the other side of the net, Marist failed to get it going. The Red Foxes finished the set with eight kills on 25 swings.
Byron did not like what he saw at the start of the fourth set. It took just two Holy Cross points for him to burn his first timeout; in the break, he lit a fire under the team.
“It was really on all of us,” Byron said. “Everyone was in their own silos, they weren’t playing together and it felt like at 2-0 we needed a timeout. Hopefully, we can talk about it next time between games.”
The fiery message worked: the Red Foxes swiftly won nine of the following points, powered by aggressive swinging and defense to steal the momentum from the Crusaders.
Marist controlled the set with dominant serving and attacking. The Red Foxes finished with a .346 hitting percentage, interestingly lower than the Crusaders’ .375. Simply put, Marist prevented them from running that effective offense by raining aces on them from the service line, ending the set with eight.
The Red Foxes hit an impressive .300 in the fifth set and held Holy Cross to a grim .043 hitting percentage. Their demanding schedule has a momentary end in sight after a weekend in Fairfield.
Marist plays the Stags on Friday, then Sacred Heart on Saturday, wrapping up a span of eight games in 15 days. First serve in Leo D. Mahoney Arena is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.
Edited by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo from Marist Athletics
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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