Despite staying in the match for the entire night, Siena Volleyball couldn't quite put together the points it needed in the crucial moments of each set as the Saints dropped a competitive match to one of the two MAAC Preseason favorites Marist 3-0 (19-22, 22-25, 22-25) on Wednesday night at McCann Arena.
 
Siena (1-10, 1-1 MAAC) received another big performance from redshirt junior outside hitter Anny Montano, who completed the double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs and hit for a team-leading .320. 
 
The Cali, Colombian native was coming off a breakthrough performance from just two days prior in a 14-kill, 14-dig, five-ace output against Saint Peter's.   
 
Marist hit the ball a bit more accurate on the evening, connecting for a .245 team hitting percentage while the Saints hit .161 as a unit. 
 
The teams mostly traded points in the early goings of the first set with Marist clinging to a 12-11 advantage.  A key 7-1 run spearheaded by a pair of Vanessa Zolg aces gave the Red Foxes (3-9, 1-0 MAAC) a 19-12 lead. 
 
The Saints fought to within 23-19 after a kill by Montano, an ace from Oliwia Majtyka and a block by Olga Sawinska.  A kill by Zolg and an ace by Kaityln Owens sealed the first set for Marist. 
 
In the second set, the Saints were able to tie at 17 apiece after winning five of six points.  In the scoring run, Wagner notched an ace and also batted one down for a kill on a feed from Ana Zink. 

The Red Foxes responded by winning seven of the following nine on the strength of the play from Gabriella Heimbauer and MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Sasha van der Merwe to take a 24-19 advantage. 
 
Siena reeled off three straight points with notable kills from Sawinska and Wagner, but van der Merwe was able to seal it with a kill of her own on a pass from Claire Lewis. 
 
In the third set, the Saints jumped out to a 7-3 lead behind the serving of Payton Hinkle and kills from Wagner and Sina Toroslu. 

Marist had an answer once again, however, using a pair of kills from Jordan Newblatt as part of a 14-3 run to take a 17-10 lead. 
 
The Saints got within 21-20 after a 10-4 run of their own with some sound serving from Majtyka and Rory McNerney. 

A kill by Montano closed it to a 23-22 lead for Marist before two kills from Heimbauer closed the match. 
 
Next up, Siena will take on UAlbany in a nonconference crosstown match up from the campus of Russell Sage College at Robison Gym's Kahl Campus Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m.