MOON TOWNSHIP, PA – The Siena Volleyball team breezed through their early match in a sweep against Maryland Eastern Shore before running into a hot-hitting Robert Morris squad as the Saints split their matches on day one of the Natale Sporting Good Invitational held at UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, PA.
Siena (5-6) won the sets 25-19, 25-19, 25-22 against the Hawks and finished with 41 kills while holding UMES to a .160 hitting percentage.
In the night cap, Siena lost to Robert Morris 3-0. Siena pushed the second set to 28-26 after taking an 18-16 lead, but Robert Morris also won the first and third sets 25-15 and 25-18.
In the opener, sophomore right side
Mary Claire Deacy finished with 14 kills while hitting .400 to lead the Saints while junior outside hitter
Gabrielle Wire added 13 kills on a .345 hitting percentage and had one block assist.
Junior setter
Abby Edwards recorded 23 assists, six digs and one ace. Redshirt senior libero
Brooke Malek collected 18 digs, three assists and two aces.
The night match featured strong performances from Deacy, who had another 11 kills on a .323 hitting percentage and six digs while
Brianna Miller contributed with eight kills and five digs.
Edwards finished with 16 assists and five digs while Malek made an highlight-reel dig turned kill play and closed with 12 digs, three assists and an ace.
Set-by-Set Against Maryland Eastern Shore
Siena opened the first set by winning seven of the first eight points, with
Autumn Willmott at the service line for a 6-0 start that included a
Brianna Miller kill, Willmott ace and two blocks involving Deacy and
Maggie Seymour. Deacy helped keep Siena in front through the middle of the set, recording multiple kills off Edwards assists as Siena moved ahead 14-7 and 17-9. UMES narrowed the margin with a four-point stretch to make it 17-14 and later got within 18-16, but Siena answered with a
Doga Diraz kill and consecutive Wire kills to push the score to 20-16. Wire added two more late kills, Deacy put down another point from Edwards, and Seymour and Deacy combined on the final block as Siena closed out the set 25-19.
Siena created the decisive separation in the second set with Malek serving, turning a 9-7 edge into a 13-7 lead as four straight UMES attack errors went the Saints' way. Earlier, Siena opened with three consecutive points, including a Seymour kill and an Edwards ace, and answered UMES pushes with kills from Wire, Deacy and Miller to stay in front. UMES cut the margin to 17-16 later in the set, but Siena responded with a service error point and then got four late kills from Wire, including the point that made it 24-18. Deacy finished the set with a kill from Edwards, giving Siena the 25-19 set win.
Siena held off UMES after the home team tied the third set at 22-22, getting a kill from Wire and back-to-back Malek aces to finish a 25-22 set win. Earlier, Siena erased a 7-6 deficit with a four-point response that included a Diraz kill, two UMES errors and a Deacy kill from Edwards to move ahead 10-7. Deacy and Miller helped Siena keep separation through the middle of the set, while Wire and Seymour combined on a block as Siena pushed the margin to 18-14. UMES cut into the lead late and tied the set, but Siena won the final three points to close the set.
With the win, Siena temporarily moved to a .500 record—the first time it has done it this late into a season since Sept. 29, 2019 when the team began with a 7-7 record.
Maryland Eastern Shore fell to 1-8 on the season.
Set-by-Set Against Robert Morris
Siena spent the opening set chasing Robert Morris after the home team scored the first five points, and Siena dropped the set 25-15. Edwards gave Siena its first point with a kill from Wire, and Miller later added an ace before Diraz's kill from Malek brought Siena within 10-7. Robert Morris rebuilt separation, but Siena continued to answer with points from
Alison Goldberg's block involvement,
Maggie Seymour's block and three kills by Deacy with Edwards assisting on each. Siena fought off set point on a Wire kill from
Oliwia Majtyka before Robert Morris closed the set on the next point.
Siena put itself in position to take the second set, reaching 24-22 on Miller's kill and later going back in front 26-25 on Edwards' kill, but RMU scored the final three points to take the set 28-26. Earlier, Deacy accounted for Siena's first three points on kills from Edwards, and the Saints continued to answer the Colonials with an Edwards ace to make it 9-8 and a Seymour kill to tie it at 10-10. After Siena trailed 15-13, Diraz tied the set at 15-15, Wire evened it again at 16-16, and Malek followed with an ace and a kill to move Siena ahead 18-16. Siena stayed in front late behind kills from Deacy and Miller, but Robert Morris erased the 24-22 edge, answered Edwards' kill at 26-25 and closed the set on an attack error and a Lauren Decker kill.
Siena played the third set from behind after Robert Morris scored the first two points, with the teams tied only at 3-3 in the early going. Miller had three kills among Siena's first four points, including a finish from Majtyka that tied the set at 3-3 and another that brought Siena within 5-4. The Colonials later held leads of 15-10 and 20-14, but Siena kept answering with Goldberg's block, Wire's second kill of the set and a Deacy kill from Edwards. Down 22-15, Siena put together three straight points on a Robert Morris service error, a Robert Morris attack error and Diraz's kill from Majtyka, but RMU took the final three points to close the set 25-18.
Robert Morris picked up their first win of the season and upped their mark to 1-9.
Up Next
Siena closes out the tournament on Saturday at Duquesne (8-2) for a 2 p.m. in the Natale Sporting Good Invitational at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh.
