NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Siena bounced back with a big conference win over Iona 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) on Friday evening at the Hynes Athletics Center.
Siena finished with 46 kills and a .185 hitting percentage while holding Iona to 38 kills and a .108 percentage.
Siena improved to 15-12 overall and 9-4 in Metro play to pull into a tie with Marist in the standings.
Iona dropped to 11-14 overall and 6-7 in Metro play, falling to seventh place in the standings and just outside of the playoff picture with the top six teams earning berths in the tournament.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter
Brianna Miller led Siena with 13.0 points, sharing the team high with 12 kills while adding 17 digs and two block assists. Miller has had 12 kills in three of the past four matches and it is the ninth time she has reached double digit kills this season in a match.
Junior outside hitter
Gabrielle Wire also recorded 12 kills on 37 attacks. This marked the 15
th match this season where Wire had recorded double digits in kills.
Redshirt senior libero
Brooke Malek collected a team-high 21 digs and added six assists and one service ace. Malek has recorded double digit digs in all 27 matches this season.
Junior setter
Abby Edwards finished with a team-best 21 assists, 12 digs and one kill.
Set-by-Set
Siena turned the opening set late by winning seven of the final eight rallies, including a four-point service run by Edwards that pushed the lead from 19-17 to 23-17. Earlier, Siena faced a 6-3 deficit before kills from
Mary Claire Deacy and Wire helped bring the set even at 7-7. After Iona moved back in front 11-10,
Autumn Willmott served Siena through four straight points, with Deacy tying the set, Willmott adding an ace and Miller putting down consecutive kills for a 14-11 lead. Siena kept separation with blocks involving Deacy,
Maggie Seymour, Miller and
Alison Goldberg, then got late kills from
Doga Diraz and
Oliwia Majtyka to move ahead 19-17. Wire put away two of Siena's final three points, and an Iona attack error closed the set at 25-18.
Siena created the decisive separation in the second set by winning seven of eight points from an 11-9 lead to an 18-10 advantage, getting a Miller kill, a Majtyka service ace, kills from Wire and Seymour and multiple Iona attack errors during the stretch. Earlier, the teams traded points through a 7-7 tie before Siena moved ahead with back-to-back Iona errors and later added Miller's kill for an 11-8 edge. Wire helped Siena maintain control with kills at 16-10, 19-12 and 22-14, while Deacy added two late kills as the Saints pushed the margin back out. Iona made a late push from 23-15 to 23-18 and later got within 24-20, but an Iona attack error closed Siena's 25-20 set win.
Siena answered Iona's mid-set push and finished the third set with a 25-21 win, getting five kills from Miller and several late responses after the score reached 16-16. Earlier, Siena trailed 8-5 before Willmott served back-to-back aces to tie the set at 8-8. After Iona moved back ahead 9-8,
Mary Claire Deacy's kill, an Iona attack error and
Brooke Malek's ace helped Siena move in front 11-9, and kills from Deacy and Diraz pushed the advantage to 13-10. Iona later tied the set at 16-16, but Siena answered with kills from Deacy and Miller, a block by Goldberg and Deacy, a Seymour kill and another Miller finish to build a 21-17 lead. Miller put Siena at set point with a kill at 24-19, and the Saints completed the set at 25-21 on an Iona attack error.
Up Next
Siena visits Manhattan (6-18, 5-8 Metro) on Saturday at 2 p.m. from Draddy Gymnasium.
