Non-conference matchups are supposed to be challenging. For the Iona College volleyball team, the non-conference portion of the schedule is providing quite a test.

The Gaels (1-8) traveled to Gainesville, Fla. to play the Florida Gators, the No. 5 team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national rankings, in the Florida Active Ankle Challenge on Sept. 14.

Florida, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) power, won in three sets (25-14, 25-12, 27-25). The Gators hit .386 for the match, highlighted by a .556 game two mark. For the Gaels, junior outside hitter Taylor Cembalisty compiled 9 kills and hit .400. Sophomore setter Natalie Ziskin recorded 21 assists.

“Florida is No. 5 in the nation; that’s pretty self-explanatory,” head coach Jon Killingbeck said. “They have kids touching 11 feet, a foot above a basketball rim.”

Later that day, the Maroon & Gold took on Georgetown. The Hoyas prevailed (26-24, 18-25, 25-21, 25-18). In game two, Iona reeled off a 9-1 run to take a commanding 15-7 advantage. Junior middle blocker Catrina Warren posted a double-double with 17 kills and 17 digs. Cembalisty and senior outside hitter Alicja Pawelec amassed 12 kills each. Cembalisty hit .391, and Pawelec hit .379.

The previous day, in their first match in the Sunshine State, the Gaels fell to Western Michigan (25-16, 25-11, 25-14). The Broncos hit .367 for the match and .519 in game three. They closed game two on an 11-1 run.

Warren compiled a double-double with 12 digs and 11 kills. Ziskin added 19 assists.

Prior to its trip to Florida, Iona went to the Cornell Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y. on Sept. 6 and 7.

In their first match, the Maroon & Gold were defeated by Buffalo (25-19, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16). In the opening game, the Bulls took seven of the final eight points.

Pawelec posted a double-double with 15 digs and 11 kills. Junior libero Katie Marabella compiled 18 digs. Warren had 12 digs. Cembalisty recorded nine kills and eight digs.

“We played Buffalo really tough; Buffalo’s a really good team,” Killingbeck said. “I think that if you put Buffalo in the MAAC, they win it.”

Later that day, Bucknell defeated Iona (25-18, 26-24, 25-21). The Bison reeled off eight straight points in the first game to take a commanding 21-12 lead.

Sophomore outside hitter Katy Crouse amassed 11 kills and nine digs. Ziskin posted 31 assists.

“When passing was good, then maybe defense was bad. When setting was good, maybe hitting was bad,” Cembalisty said. “We weren’t clicking that well, so we need to just tighten things up all around.”

The following day, the Gaels took on the host school, Cornell. The Maroon & Gold fell to the Big Red (25-22, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20).

Warren led the way with 15 kills. Cembalisty compiled 12 digs and 10 kills. Freshman middle blocker Karly White posted her first career double digit kill match with 11. She hit .389.

The Gaels begin conference play on Sept. 21 at Siena. They follow that up with a trip to Marist the following day.

“I can’t wait to start MAACs,” Cembalisty said. “Within the MAAC, you have more emotion to each game because you remember previous wins and losses, and there’s a lot more vested in each game. That brings a whole new excitement to every weekend.”

Iona has its home-opener on Sept. 25 in a non-conference matchup with St. Francis (N.Y.) at 7 p.m. at the Hynes Athletics Center.