LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Volleyball won its highest scoring set in nearly 17 years, re-established a new season-high in total team blocks, but were unable to sustain a strong defensive stand down the stretch as MAAC rival Iona hit .357 in the final set to prevail in a competitive back-and-forth tussle 3-2 at the UHY Center on Sunday afternoon.

Siena (3-13 overall, 2-3 MAAC) held a 2-1 sets advantage, but dropped down to hitting .131 as a team for the match and committed a season-high 32 attacking errors in the afternoon.  It came after hitting .261 just 24 hours earlier and prevented Siena from extending its win streak to three. 

The teams traded off comfortable wins in the second and third sets before Iona (5-12, 3-2 MAAC) outscored the Saints 40-27 over the last two sets. 

In the deciding fifth set, Mija Jegers had five kills while Grace Ehler and Mackenzie Wiggins had three and two kills respectively for the Gaels.  With the Saints trailing 6-5, Iona won eight of the next 10 points to take a 14-7 lead.  Siena won three straight points with a kill from Salme Adeele Hollas and a pair of attack errors by Iona to cut it within four before Ehler sealed it with a kill. 

The 66 points scored between the two squads in the opening set was the most points scored in a set of a Siena volleyball match since Oct. 27, 2007 when the Saints won the second set against Fairfield 38-36 (74 points).  The NCAA changed the ruling on rally points needed to win from 30 points down to 25 points at the start of 2008 season.  

Senior Sara Wagner led the Saints with a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs.     

Redshirt freshman Salme Adeele Hollas had 11 kills, while senior setter Claire Isaksen recorded 22 assists and 11 digs. 

Next up, Siena travels to New Jersey to play Saint Peter's (3-8, 1-4 MAAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m.