The Iona College Volleyball team got their conference play underway on Sept. 18 when they played in Jersey City, NJ, against the St. Peters Peahens.

  Coming off a tough five-set loss at Columbia, the Gaels dominated the Peahens, winning in three straight sets, 25-14, 25-17, and 25-15. Senior setter Alyssa Erickson showed leadership by leading the team with a .600 hitting percentage.

  Freshman Alicja Pawelec was impressive as well, with 12 kills on 21 attempts, while only making one error. Senior Allison Nieters had a great match, picking up 20 digs.

  This dominant win was the Gaels’ first conference win of the season as they improved to 7-4 on the year.

  The following day, the Gaels went to Baltimore, MD, to play against the Loyola University Greyhounds.

  Coming off such a dominant performance against St. Peters, the Gaels’ play definitely carried over into this game by winning the first two sets, 25-22, and 25-18.

  The next set was hard fought but the Greyhounds took the third set 29-27. After losing the fourth set as well, the Gaels dug deep and were able to pull out their eighth win of the year and their second conference win by taking the decisive fifth set, 15-10.

  Senior middle blocker Colleen Genett led the team with a .448 hitting percentage. She also contributed 14 kills on 29 attempts with only one error. 

  Sophomore Theresa Harvey also played well by having 20 kills on 50 attempts with two errors. Pawelec added 15 kills. The big part of this match was the amount of digs the Gaels had. Erickson with 13, senior Laura Fojanesi had 11, Harvey had 16, and Nieters led all Gaels with a commanding 33 digs.

  On Saturday, Sept. 25, the Gaels had their first home game of the season against the Marist Red Foxes. Each set was tightly contested, but the Red Foxes took all three sets, 25-21, 25-20, and 26-24. This gave the Gaels their first conference loss of the year, putting the Gaels now with an 8-5 overall record and a 2-1 record in the MAAC.

  Junior setter Nicole Tamburri led the Gaels with a hitting percentage of .667. Nieters added 16 digs in the Gaels great effort against Marist.

  The Gaels continue their conference play on Sept. 26 against Manhattan College at Iona in the Hynes Athletic Center. They will finish their four game home-stand next weekend when they play the Rider Broncs and the Fairfield Stags on Oct.2-3.

  So far in conference play, the Gaels look like they will be pretty tough to beat. Every team playing Iona has to earn each set.

  The majority of the sets the Gaels have played so far have been close. The Maroon and Gold’s veteran leadership helps in close matches.

  With their high level of leadership, the seniors will set the right example for the rest of the team, and the younger players will grow and develop.