The women’s volleyball team looks to get their footing back with the home stretch of the season coming up. It’s been a roller coaster year for the volleyball team, who pulled off a 3-0 win against Merrimack in the first game of the year.  

The Gaels have compiled a record of 3-10 since that season opening win. The team has a chance to shake off their inconsistent play with the heart of their schedule coming up.  

They already have more wins than last year’s team, which had only three victories in the COVID-affected season. All remaining games this year are against conference teams, and two of the four Gaels wins have come against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents. 

The squad has an opportunity to take advantage of the next three games. Manhattan College, Saint Peter’s University and Quinnipiac University are on the schedule next with the three squads having a combined record of 5-34. Iona already swept Manhattan three sets to zero in Iona’s first conference match.  

The Gaels also came away with a victory against Niagara, who with a 6-9 record, remains in the middle of the standings as the fifth best team out of ten. They will face Niagara again on Oct. 30 in what they hope will be the same result.  

Iona will then go up against the conference’s best in Fairfield, which sports an impressive 10-6 record while being undefeated in conference play. If they remain undefeated until Oct. 17, the Gaels will have the opportunity to give them their first conference loss.  

The Gaels finished as a six seed last season, which was good enough for a postseason berth. Iona is currently the seven seed behind 3-14 Siena, who are only in front of the Gaels because of their 3-3 conference record compared to Iona’s 2-4.  

Returning to first-place form like the 2018 team will be a tall task for the Gaels, but the team has shown progress ever since their down 2019 season. A lot can happen with 13 games left on their schedule, as the team will try to make another playoff appearance and enter the MAAC tournament in good form.  

The team’s victory in their last game should be enough to give them momentum down the stretch. They will need to play with an “every game matters” mentality to keep up with their opponents in the standings.  

Their next match is slated for Oct. 9 against Manhattan while their next home game is on Oct. 13 against Saint Peter’s.