VCU defeated Iona, 3-0 during invitational

Alexis Washington, Contributing Writer 

The VCU women’s volleyball team defeated Iona University 3-0 on Friday morning at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. This was the team’s first win during the VCU invitational.    

VCU head coach Tim Doyle said he was excited to come back home and coach the women’s volleyball team again. He coached at the College of William & Mary prior and has been with the Rams for a year now.

“I was an assistant here from 2014 to 2018,” Doyle said. “So, to come back home, which VCU feels like — it’s been incredible.”

The first set was a high energy match with both teams playing hard.

Iona started the game with possession, only scoring two points within the first couple minutes of the game. VCU was trailing Iona with a kill and ace back-to-back.

VCU red shirt middle blocker senior Sarah Stratton hit a kill with an assist from VCU junior setter Taylor Aguano, followed by a service ace from Aguano, leading the Rams up by four points.  

Aguano said she started to feel the pressure and started to get points on the board. The first set was a back-and-forth match.

The VCU Rams came back from a timeout and closed out the first match.

Middle hitter Stratton and Akire Jones, along with opposite hitter MaKenzie Chambers, had a block party towards the end of the set.

There was a solo block by Stratton, a block assist by Jones and solo block by Chambers which helped the Rams trail Iona 19-15.

The three big hitters were prepared to shut the opponent down, according to Stratton.

“We just gotta be strong, we got to be aggressive at the net, we know our skills and what we’re capable of,” Stratton said. 

 VCU came out with the win of 25-20 after a kill by VCU junior Parker Hartzell and an assist from VCU graduate student AnnaBelle Tomei.

The second set had high momentum with both teams eager to close out the set.

The Rams set the game off with their first point with a kill by opposite hitter Hartzell and an assist from freshman libero Anja Kujundzic. 

However, the Rams got disorganized in the middle of the set and were not playing like they do at practice, according to Doyle. 

“Each individual was just trying to do too much and just not playing within our system,” Doyle said.

This led to Iona taking their first lead of the game with 15-14 by an attack error from Stratton. VCU regained the lead back with a block assist by senior middle blocker Jasmine Knight. 

The fight for the lead was back and forth between the two teams, raising the intensity. 

The Gaels started to catch back up to the Rams, and Doyle reminded his team to stay focused during a timeout. 

The VCU Rams did just what coach Doyle instructed them to do and closed out the set with a 26-24 victory by a solo block from VCU graduate right side MaKenzie Chambers.     

VCU was on the final stretch and had to win the third set to seal the win.   

The Rams were given a first point by a service error from the opposing team. 

This set was a closed-out match. VCU maintained dominance and owned the court with leadership from the upperclassmen.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for the season opener. My mindset is just to protect Siegel and protect our home court,” said senior outside hitter Ana Brangioni.

Brangioni was a key contributor to the win by being a lead scorer with 12.5 points, according to StatBroadcast.

The VCU women’s volleyball team won the set 25-18 with a kill by freshman outside hitter Sydney Houchens and an assist from Aguano.

The team worked together and cheered for each other, on and off the court.

The atmosphere in the arena was through the roof. The fans at the game really impacted and cheered on the team. This was the most fans that the women’s volleyball team played for, according to senior Brangionio.

“I cannot wait to have more students and more athletes supporting us supporting women’s sports,” Branginoni said. “Today we had a bigger crowd than we’ve ever had and that made a difference.”