Sept. 27, 2008
Final Stats
Loudonville, N.Y. - Burgandy McCurty led three Saints in double figure kills with 23 as the Siena volleyball team edged Iona 3-2 (16-25, 25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13) this afternoon in Siena's MAAC home opener. Amanda Begin added 14 kills and Kelly Hummel recorded 13 as the Saints won for the third straight match.
Iona (9-5, 2-1) came out strong, tallying the first five points of the match and led by ten points on several occasions in leading wire to wire in the opening set.
After Siena (4-8, 2-1) accrued a negative hitting percentage in the opening set, the Saints battled back offensively in posting their best hit percentage of the match (.286) to capture the second set and even the score at 1-1 entering intermission. The set loss by the Gaels ended a run of 14 consecutive sets won by Iona dating back to Sept. 14.
The third set was tightly contested with neither team ever leading by more than five points. Iona closed the gap to two points late (24-22) before April London set McCurty for the set winning kill. London led all players with 49 assists, while adding three service aces.
The Gaels overcame a 14-13 fourth set deficit to reel off six straight points en route to a 25-21 triumph, setting up the fifth and deciding set. Both teams battled hard throughout the decisive set, but after taking an early 2-1 lead Siena never looked back and capped the match with a resounding McCurty kill.
The victory marked the Saints' 28 home win in its last 33 matches dating back to the 2004 season and was the fifth straight triumph over the Gaels. Siena's strength once again was its defense, limiting Iona to a .179 hitting percentage, while amassing 80 digs to the Gaels 78. Iona had entered play leading the MAAC and ranking fourth nationally in digs.
The Siena defense was buoyed by the return of senior libero Kathi Kobayashi who made a triumphant return after being sidelined by an arm injury. She finished the match leading all players with 20 digs.
Four Gaels registered double digit kills led by Rachel Whitten and Sarah Wiener's 15 apiece. Alyssa Erickson added 45 assists and 12 digs, while the MAAC leader and second ranked libero in the NCAA Allison Nieters was limited to just 19 digs.
The Saints return to action tomorrow in search of its fourth win a row when it hosts Manhattan. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
