LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Marist’s straight-set loss at Rider, coupled with Siena’s 3-1 victory over Saint Peter’s, officially ended the Red Foxes’ MAAC Tournament hopes.
At the same time that Siena’s graduate student outside hitter Elizabeth Phillips’ match-winning kill found the floor in Jersey City, freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck sailed a swing out of bounds, closing the book on Rider’s 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17) victory.
After weeks of boxscore watching around the MAAC as seemingly every match had playoff implications, the Red Foxes knew where they stood when they walked into Alumni Gym. Win and they were in; lose and they would need some help.
A Siena loss to Saint Peter’s and a Sacred Heart loss to Manhattan would have put Marist in the tournament regardless of the result in Lawrenceville, but the Red Foxes wanted to clinch on their own terms. Siena put the pressure on Marist; they jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Peacocks before the Red Foxes’ match even started.
For Marist to have any chance at toppling Rider, who had already locked up a postseason berth, they needed to stop Kiannisha Santiago; the senior opposite hitter entered play with the most kills in the MAAC by far. Her 283 kills in conference play were 110 more than second place, and in the Broncs’ 3-1 win against the Red Foxes earlier in the season, Santiago scorched Marist with 23 kills on 46 swings.
She got it going early, bouncing four kills as Rider grabbed a 15-13 advantage at the media timeout. Marist played catch-up for most of the set, as the Broncs’ offense looked sharp all around.
The Red Foxes stayed within a few points but were unable to claim the lead. Rider scored five of the set’s final six points, taking the first, 25-19, after a thunderous block from Santiago on Reck.
Byron burned both of his timeouts before his team even scored a point in the second set.
Behind sound blocking, Rider quickly leapt out to a 5-0 lead, immediately putting the Red Foxes in a hole. After Byron’s first timeout, Santiago roofed freshman right-side hitter Eleana Koute for her third block of the set, then Koute swung out of bounds on the next swing to prompt another timeout from Byron.
The Rider lead ballooned to ten, but the Red Foxes, seemingly playing for their lives, cut the deficit in half at 14-9. Rider head coach Jeff Rotondo’s timeout stopped the bleeding; the Broncs won three of the next four points to reinstate their commanding lead.
Highlighted by seven blocks, the Broncs held Marist to a -.094 hitting percentage in the set, effectively shutting Marist’s offense down. The Red Foxes swung better towards the end of the set, but it was too little too late. Rider won 25-17 to grab a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set played out similarly to the first two. Stout Rider defense stifled Marist’s offense, which hit .083, while the Broncs applied consistent pressure from the service line and at the net. Rider tallied three aces in the set, four blocks and converted 10 of their 18 attack attempts for kills.
2025 marked an important year of growth for the Red Foxes; Marist’s six players on the floor were comprised of nearly all underclassmen for the entirety of the season. Although they finished with a 10-20 record (8-10 in the MAAC), the Red Foxes demonstrated significant improvement on the court throughout the season, particularly in comparison to their 2024 campaign.
“We have to pass the ball better. We have to kill the ball better. We gotta get production out of the middle,” said Byron regarding what the Red Foxes need to do better in 2026.
Freshmen such as Reck, Koute, right-side hitter Ava Lanzetta, and setter Caelyn Dumas all played significant roles throughout the MAAC season, during which they developed together. Dumas also emerged as a leader on the court and in the locker room under graduate student setter Claire Lewis, who played her final match on Saturday afternoon.
“I think [Mallory] learned a lot today. She might not be able to acknowledge it right now, but even just by watching [Santiago],” said Byron. “I think Mallory will get there at some point… she had a great first year.”
Both of Marist’s middle blockers, sophomore Sarah Bumstead and redshirt junior Mikayla Keefer, are also returning next year – Lewis is the only member of the 17-player roster set to depart.
The names will stay the same in Poughkeepsie next year, and the mission of raising the team’s first championship banner in McCann Arena will not change. But first, they have a few necessary smaller hills to climb – the main one being to make it back to the postseason. Marist has not been since 2023, and has not won a match in the tournament since 2019.
The Red Foxes fell short this year, but they undoubtedly have a sturdy core in place that will keep them competitive in the MAAC for the foreseeable future.
Edited by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo by Xavier Angel
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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