The Iona College volleyball team opened up the 2011 season by splitting a pair of matches at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational in Annapolis, MD. The Gaels opened up the season losing to St. John’s, but came back victorious against Navy.

The Gaels were actually slated to play four games in Annapolis, but the invitational was shortened due to the expectation of Hurricane Irene.

The Gaels very first game of the year was a heartbreaker against one of the Big East’s top teams.

Iona was competitive in every set, but lost 3-1 (23-25, 32-34, 25-9,17-25).

The Gaels opened up their first set of the season with a 21-17 lead, but dropped the set when the Red Storm went on an 8-2 run.

In the following set, the Gaels pushed St. John’s to the brink of defeat until they closed it out 34-32. Iona survived two Red Storm set points, before coming up with two set points of their own, but could not pull the win together.

Iona, however, marched back in dramatic fashion taking the third set after opening up with a 13-0 lead. The Gaels kept the Red Storm to single digits in the set winning 25-9. Iona kept the fourth set close narrowing the Red Storm lead to 16-15, but lost, dropping the set 25-17.

During the game sophomore Alicja Pawelec, earned her first collegiate double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs. Iona was also able to rely on freshman Caris Myles who had 32 assists with seven digs.  Additionally, junior Theresa Harvey picked up a career-best 27 digs against the Red Storm.

After a tough opening loss, the Gaels came back strong against Navy sweeping them 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-18).

Pawelec was strong all around for Iona picking up 13 kills, eight digs, two blocks and three aces.

“As a team we were happy with parts of the matches, but we understand that we have areas that we need to get better at,” Head Coach Jon Killingbeck said. “This is why we play a preseason, so we can evaluate and get better in those areas before conference matches.”

The volleyball team also played in the 2011 Holiday Inn Express Stony Brook Invitational.

Iona opened up with a four set loss against Rhode Island. The match ended at 3-1 (27-29, 21-25, 25-21,17-25).

For a third straight game, Pawelec led the Gaels offensive charge picking up a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs. Myles notched 41 assists, and seven digs. She also led the offense with three aces. Harvey once again carried the defense with 18 digs, while freshman Katie Marabella picked up seven digs.

The Gaels came back the next day, but fell to host Stony Brook 3-1 (22-25, 21-25, 25-8, 16-25).

Offensively, Pawelec hit .310 with 15 kills, while on defense Harvey posted 17 digs. The rookie Myles was all over the floor with 36 assists.

To close out the invitational the Gaels bested Kent State, 3-1 (25-19, 25-15, 21-25, 25-21).

Iona relied on their passing game, which led to a .340 team hitting percentage.

Sophomore Kelsey Hess had a breakout game with 18 kills on 35 attempts. Sophomore Madisyn Spence came back with 17 kills, and a .455 hitting percentage.

Myles picked up the third highest single-match assist total over the last decade with 60.

For her performance in the tournament, Harvey won defensive player of the week for the MAAC and Defensive player for the Stony Brook Tournament. 

Freshman Catrina Warren won the MAAC Rookie of the Week for her hard work. She has been hitting .395 (third in the MAAC), and blocking 1.26 balls per game (second in MAAC).

“We are taking pride in the fact that we can look up and down our roster and notice that every single person is getting better,” Killingbeck said.

The Gaels open up MAAC play with a big game on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 2:30 p.m. at the Hynes Athletic Center against rival Niagara.