Marist Loses Friday Night Matches in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN – Beginning the second half of its nine-match road swing, the Marist volleyball team fell to 3-8 on the 2017 season after losing its two matches in the Big Apple Battle on Sept. 15. The Red Foxes dropped their match to St. Francis-Brooklyn 3-2 (18-25, 15-25, 25-18, 27-25, 15-10) and were downed by tournament host LIU Brooklyn 3-0 (25-14, 25-9, 25-12) respectively in consecutive matches.

The Terriers moved to 5-7 on the year while the Blackbirds are now 5-6. Marist lost to LIU Brooklyn for just the second time in program history to conclude its non-conference slate.

There were seven ties in the opening set before Marist went on a 9-3 tear with the help of a pair of kills from sophomore Nikki DeSerpa. Junior Taylor van der Biezen contributed all around with 11 assists and five digs in the first frame.

Marist grabbed an eight-point lead in the second stanza after an unforced error followed consecutive aces from van der Biezen. St. Francis-Brooklyn rallied with four straight points, but the Red Foxes countered by earning the final six points to jump ahead 2-0.

Sophomore Mackenzie O’Brien broke a pair of ties with kills in the third set. The Terriers barked back however, going on an 8-2 run, and suddenly led 18-13. A pair of kills and an ace off the hands of O’Brien kept Marist alive but the Red Foxes could not come completely out of their hole.

The fourth frame was tied 14 times and neither side had more than a three-point cushion. Marist brought St. Francis-Brooklyn to match point on a pair of unforced errors at 24-23. The Terriers took control from that point on, scoring four of the next five points to lengthen the match.

The Red Foxes could not overcome the momentum generated by St. Francis-Brooklyn, as the Terriers’ 6-1 outburst put them ahead for good. Marist got the serve back coming out of its final timeout, but ultimately lost the neutral site contest.

A closer look at the Numbers (St. Francis-Brooklyn). The match features 34 ties and 11 lead changes. Six different hitters registered a kill for Marist and the Red Foxes racked up a .235 attack percentage to St. Francis-Brooklyn’s mark of .207.Terriers senior Aleksandra Gligoric posted a match-high 27 kills and hit .302. St. Francis-Brooklyn sophomore Taris Pittman tied for the team lead in blocks also hit .563 with nine kills. Marist senior Kelsey Ediger posted a double-double with season highs of 16 kills and 14 digs.

LIU Brooklyn

LIU Brooklyn pulled ahead 5-1 from the start with the help of consecutive aces and Marist could not recover despite three kills from sophomore Megan Fergus. The Blackbirds’ outburst continued in the next set when they ripped off eight of the first nine points. The Red Foxes 4-1 spurt got them to within seven, but Marist quickly found itself down 2-0.

Freshman Chidera Udeh started the third set for Marist and slammed a kill to cut the deficit to 6-3. The Blackbirds continued to roll however, quickly ending the first night of the tournament.

A closer look at the Numbers (LIU Brooklyn. Fergus led all Red Foxes with five kills. DeSerpa had four kills alongside a team-high nine digs. LIU Brooklyn owned a 62-36 advantage in digs. Blackbirds junior Nina Petranovic had double-digit totals in kills (16) and digs (11). The time of the match was 70 minutes.