Oct. 16, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

THE WEEK AHEAD: Marist hosts Rider and Siena for a weekend homestand at the McCann Center.

LAST WEEKEND: The Red Foxes remained .500 in the MAAC last weekend, splitting matches with Manhattan and Iona to move to 4-4 in the conference.

Marist got off to a good start to the weekend with a 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21) win over the Lady Jaspers at the McCann Center Friday night. The Red Foxes hit .708 in the opening set and .290 for the match. Joanna Foss and Alexandra Schultze each had 16 kills in the win, with Leeann Harridsleff adding 13. Libero Emily Brosky led Marist with 17 digs. Marist had four players hit over .275 in the win over Manhattan. Diane Strutner led the Lady Jaspers with 16 kills.

On Sunday, Marist travelled to New Rochelle to take on Iona. The Red Foxes won the first set 25-22, but the Gaels came back to win the next three sets 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 to win the match 3-1. Marist hit .379 in its opening set win, but was held under .100 by the Iona defense in each of the next three sets. Schultze led all players with 24 kills, while Harridsleff had a career-high 14 kills with 12 digs for a double-double. Brosky led the Red Foxes with 19 digs as Lindsey Schmid had seven blocks. Molly O'Shea led the Gaels with 19 kills, hitting .421.

A RAE OF HOPE: On Wednesday, Oct. 14, A Rae of Hope hosted "Dining to Donate" at Applebee's in Poughkeepsie from 4-9 p.m. The five-hour benefit raised an estimated $650 to be donated to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Pediatric Cancers in New York City in the name of Marist junior volleyball player Raeanna Gutkowski. The outpour of support from the local community as well as the Marist community brought the waiting time to be seated to over one hour at times. Those in attendance with the required voucher donated 10% of their check - excluding tax and tip - to Sloan-Kettering in the name of Gutkowski. Gutkowski, a junior outside-hitter on the Marist volleyball team, is currently battling osteosarcoma, a cancerous disease. She receives treatment regularly at Sloan-Kettering.

SETTING CAREER HIGHS: Sophomore right-side hitter Leeann Harridsleff set a new career-high for kills twice last weekend. Harridsleff surpassed her high mark of 12 kills set in September at Army with 13 against Manhattan and 14 at Iona. Last week, Harridsleff averaged 3.38 kills per set and hit .315.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: So far this season, Marist is hitting .252 in matches at the McCann Center this season, 63 points better than on the road. The Red Foxes are 5-2 on the home floor this season and have dropped seven of 25 sets.

SCOUTING RIDER: The Broncs are the only team Marist has not played in MAAC play this season. Rider is 1-7 in the MAAC entering this weekend, with its only conference win coming against first-place Fairfield. The Broncs have lost their last four matches, including losses to Niagara and Canisius last weekend. Libero Amy Jeary is fourth in the MAAC in digs per set (4.40 d/s).

SCOUTING SIENA: The Saints are tied for third in the MAAC with Canisius entering the weekend. Marist defeated Siena in Loudonville on Sept. 27 in five sets. Siena features one of the best offensive duos in the MAAC in Burgandy McCurty and Aubrey Bobo. McCurty leads the MAAC in kills, averaging 5.13 kills per set with Bobo averaging 3.88 kills per set, fourth-best in the conference.