LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Siena outlasted Marist in a marathon-like 34-32 fourth set to win the match 3-1, delivering a crucial blow to Marist’s postseason hopes.
In a true “loser leaves town” match, the Saints and Red Foxes entered Tuesday evening in a three-way tie for sixth with Sacred Heart at 5-6 in MAAC play. The sixth, and final, team in the playoffs often finishes with a 10-8 record; Marist now has its work cut out for itself heading into the final three weekends of the season.
The Saints rallied back after dropping the first set to take a 2-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-27) lead into the fourth, where Siena had six match point chances, while Marist had four set point opportunities to push the match to a decisive fifth set.
Siena finally won on a kill from junior right-side hitter Doga Diraz, but the final point did not come without controversy. Earlier in the play, freshman outside hitter Natalia Clifford toed the attack line on a swing from the back row, which, if called, would have left the score tied at 33.
“I wish I had a challenge [left] at match point,” said Marist head coach Sean Byron, who immediately tried to change the officials’ minds before the play ended.
His pleas were in vain; the officials awarded Siena the point, solidifying a backbreaking loss for the Red Foxes.
Junior outside hitter Sara Dasic – in just her second game back from a serious ankle injury that originally jeopardized the rest of her season – led Marist on the night with 16 kills in the loss.
Marist’s right-side hitters carried them early on, despite being an area of inconsistency at times this season. The Red Foxes’ first five kills came from the right pin, with freshman Eleana Koute drilling four and Ava Lanzetta adding one. Koute finished the match with 11 kills, tied for second on the team with freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck.
Still, the Saints controlled the beginning of the first set, until consecutive aces by sophomore middle blocker Sarah Bumstead put Marist up 14-13; Siena did not take back the lead for the rest of the set.
After a down weekend, Marist’s offense looked phenomenal in the first set. The Red Foxes hit .324, as Koute led the team with five first-set kills – Dasic, Reck and Lanzetta each had three of their own.
Siena put together a solid 13-kill set, but lost the first at the service line; Marist aced them four times, while the Saints missed four serves.
The Red Foxes’ defense stepped up in the following set, scoring two quick blocks as Marist grabbed an early 7-3 advantage. Siena responded resoundingly; freshman libero Autumn Willmott served two aces on a seven-point scoring streak that spanned two separate timeouts from Byron.
The Saints ran away with the set from there, winning 25-18. Suddenly, Marist’s offense went ice cold. The Red Foxes made more attack errors (nine) than they had kills in the set (eight), resulting in a -.029 hitting percentage.
“I think it was more of their serving,” Byron said regarding Marist’s offensive struggles. “We passed all over the place. We were running our offense from 15-20 feet.”
Meanwhile, Siena found its footing at the net and also got consistent block touches on Marist’s attacks; sophomore outside hitter Gabrielle Wire scored three kills, and junior middle blocker Ella Treasure added three block assists to lead the Saints to a match-tieing victory.
Siena brought a blistering attack into the third set. They led 15-11, boasting a fantastic .438 hitting percentage. Amazingly, the Saints’ 10 kills at that point had come from six different hitters.
Marist failed to slow down the Siena attack, as the Saints pushed forward to an 18-13 lead, where the Red Foxes finally showed some fight, clawing back to win three straight points.
Siena quieted the run after a timeout; they forced Marist out of system, prompting a Lanzetta swing out of bounds, then Willmott aced Reck on back-to-back points, putting the set out of reach. All told, the Saints scored seven of the set’s final eight points.
The Saints nailed 16 kills on 29 swings, converting at an unthinkable rate. Freshman right-side hitter Mary Claire Deacy torched Marist, drilling five kills in the set on only nine swings.
With their backs against the wall in the match – and seemingly the season, given how the current playoff picture is shaping up – the Red Foxes distanced themselves with a clutch run midway through the set.
Marist won five of seven points to take an 18-15 lead; Siena promptly reeled them in with a 3-0 run to knot the score at 18.
From there, Marist and Siena traded points, with Marist again struggling to capitalize on its small leads.
However, Siena reached set point first, but Marist played its most inspiring volleyball of the evening, with the match hanging in the balance. The Red Foxes fought off four match points before taking a lead of their own.
Marist survived a fifth match point with a Dasic kill after she swung out to give Siena a one-point advantage. To Siena’s credit, they never withered when Marist had them on the ropes either, fending off a handful of set points of their own.
Finally, Diraz put the match to rest with a kill after Koute swung out of bounds to give Siena its sixth and final match point.
The Red Foxes have a must-win game rapidly approaching, when they take on the Sacred Heart, a team that beat them in four sets on Oct. 11 in Fairfield. This time, Marist hosts the Pioneers in McCann Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Edited by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo by Xavier Angel
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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