LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Saint Peter's volleyball team (5-7, 0-1 MAAC) fell to Siena (5-8, 1-0 MAAC) in three sets (21-25, 16-25, 21-25) in the MAAC opener at UHY Center on Friday as the Peacocks suffered just their second sweep all season.
Despite the result, the Peacocks never gave up, and they made several scoring runs late in sets which showed their resilience. Saint Peter's had a tough time slowing down the Saints' attack. The Siena offense was red hot from the opening serve to the final point, finishing the match with an insane .413 hitting percentage.
For the Peacocks,
Sibana González Acevedo led the team in kills once again with 10 on the night. Just behind her was
Karolina T. Rodriguez Mendez with eight kills while hitting .400. Saint Peter's has been a top-blocking team in the conference so far this season, but against the Saints, the Peacocks totaled just four blocks.
Saint Peter's looks to bounce back with a better defensive performance tomorrow at Marist. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE: After a slow start, the Peacocks strung together a few kills to get back into the set early. Siena then took a 13-7 lead following back-to-back SPU attack errors, which forced Saint Peter's to call its first timeout. Shortly after the break, Gonz
alez Acevedo notched two aces at the line to bring the Peacocks within four, 10-14. The Peacocks decided to talk things over once again after the Saints began to pull away with three straight points for a 19-12 advantage. Saint Peter's stormed back late in the set to make it 20-23, but Siena managed to take set one, 25-21, with a service error and a kill.
SET TWO: Both teams basically traded points to a 6-6 tie before Siena started to gain some separation. The Saints took an 11-7 lead after scoring five of the next six points, forcing Colon to call a timeout. The Peacocks responded well with three straight points, making it 10-11. Later in the set,
Lara Martinez kept SPU within one with a kill as the team trailed 14-15. Siena then recorded three kills and an ace to go up 19-14. The Saints finished the set strong, taking set two, 25-16.
SET THREE: The Peacocks opened up with a 3-0 lead over Siena in set three. When Siena picked up back-to-back kills, Saint Peter's responded with three kills to go up 6-2. Facing a 3-7 deficit, the Saints erupted for seven unanswered points to gain a 10-7 advantage. SPU called a timeout to slow down Siena's momentum, but out of the break, the Saints extended their run to 11-0 to lead 14-7. The Peacocks trailed 11-20 when they put together a scoring run of their own to make it 18-20. Right after an unsuccessful Siena challenge, Gonzalez Acevedo picked up her 10th kill of the match as the Peacocks came within one. Saint Peter's then tied it at 20-20 with an ace from
Lagean Colon. Despite the late comeback, Siena scored the next five points to win the set, 25-20.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks have a quick turnaround, playing Marist tomorrow, Saturday at 4 p.m. The Red Foxes started the season 1-10, but they were faced with a very challenging nonconference schedule.
