LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Volleyball extended its winning streak to four straight and moved above the .500 mark for this first time this late into a season since the 2015 campaign as the Saints swept Iona with a 3-0 victory (25-20, 25-21, 25-22) on Saturday afternoon at the UHY Center.
Siena (9-8 overall, 4-1 Metro) hit .210 and held Iona to .092, finishing with a 46-33 advantage in kills.
The Saints also had 76 digs and eight total blocks while completing the Metro sweep.
Sophomore right side
Mary Claire Deacy supported that edge with a career-best 22 kills on .352 hitting with 13 digs.
Junior setter
Abby Edwards produced her third double-double of the season with a game-high 36 assists (12.0 assists per set) and added 14 digs with three blocks and redshirt senior libero
Brooke Malek compiled her fourth consecutive match with at least 20 digs and seventh time this season with 21 digs in three sets (7.0 digs per set).Â
Junior outside hitter
Gabrielle Wire added nine kills.
Maggie Seymour finished with five kills on eight attacks while hitting .625 and posting five total blocks.
The Saints twice turned one-point deficits into three-point leads in later sets, including a four-point closing burst from a 21-21 tie to finish the third.
Iona dropped to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in the Metro.
Set-by-Set
The Saints broke a 12-12 tie with six straight points, starting with a Deacy kill from
Abby Edwards and continuing through five service points with
Brooke Malek at the line as Iona committed five consecutive attack errors. Earlier, Wire, Deacy and
Maggie Seymour helped the Saints build a 5-2 edge, and the Saints later pushed the margin to 12-8 before Iona answered to tie the set. After the run gave the Saints an 18-12 lead, Iona cut the gap to 18-15, but the Saints responded with a service error by Iona and a
Brianna Miller kill from Edwards to move back ahead 20-15. Wire added three late kills, including points for 22-18, 23-18 and 24-19, and Deacy finished the set with a kill from Malek for a 25-20 Saints win.
The Saints erased an early five-point deficit and took control of the second set with a 7-of-8 stretch that moved the Saints from a 15-15 tie to a 22-16 lead. Earlier, Iona pushed ahead 13-8 before the Saints began working back behind a block from
Alison Goldberg and Edwards, kills from Deacy, and a later sequence that included an
Autumn Willmott ace and a Miller kill to tie the set at 14-14. After Iona briefly went back in front 15-14, Goldberg tied it with a kill, Miller put the Saints ahead, and the Saints added points on a ball-handling error and a Miller-Seymour block. Iona cut the margin to 22-21 late, but the Saints closed the set on a service error, a Wire kill from Edwards and an Iona attack error for a 25-21 win.
The Saints closed the third set by scoring four of the final five points after Iona tied it at 21-21, with Deacy and Miller recording late kills before Seymour and Edwards combined on the block that ended the set. Earlier, the Saints answered Iona's two opening aces with steady offense from Deacy, while
Hannah Bowman's ace and kills from Wire and Deacy helped the Saints move ahead 10-7. After Iona came back to lead 14-13, Deacy tied the set with a kill, Wire added another, and Miller served an ace as the Saints built an 18-15 advantage. Iona pulled even again at 21-21, but the Saints responded with the closing stretch and took the set 25-22.
Up Next
Siena wraps its home stand this Wednesday hosting cross town UAlbany (4-9) at 6 p.m. from the UHY Center.
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