Merrimack vs Iona Volleyball: Iona Wins 3-0 (Sep 26, 2026)

FinalSat, Sep 26, 2026ESPN+Iona Insider

0:3

Iona beat visiting Merrimack 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) on Sat, Sep 26, 2026. Julia Leonardo led Iona with 11 kills; Merrimack's Fabiola Betancourt had a match-high 12.

Data through Nov 3, 4:50 PM CT · final Sep 26

Set	1	2	3	Sets
MERMCK	23	20	19	0
IONA	25	25	25	3

Win probability

Iona above 50 · Merrimack below

Biggest swing: 5.9% to Iona — set 1, MERMCK 22-23 IONA. Kill by Julia Leonardo (set by Ezzie Thompson). IONA win probability 73% → 79%.

Pre-match

Season fit · includes this match

MERMCK 23.8%76.2% IONA

Merrimack wins

3-0

4.1%

3-1

8.1%

3-2

11.6%

Iona wins

3-0

28.0%

3-1

29.1%

3-2

19.1%

MERMCK break %: 43.3% vs this opp
IONA break %: 48.8% vs this opp

Exact Markov model on each team's RallyIQ serve and receive strength, adjusted for schedule and applied to this matchup (D1 average break % 42.5%). Ratings use the whole season, including this match. Gold = actual result.

Top plays

Largest win-probability swings

01
Julia LeonardoKill+5.9%
Kill by Julia Leonardo (set by Ezzie Thompson)
Set 1 · MERMCK 22-23 IONA · IONA 73% → 79%
02
MerrimackService error+5.8%
Merrimack service error
Set 1 · MERMCK 23-25 IONA · IONA 81% → 87%
03
Emma KocejaKill+5.3%
Kill by Emma Koceja (set by Avery Gaume)
Set 1 · MERMCK 22-24 IONA · IONA 79% → 84%
04
Julia LeonardoKill+5.2%
Kill by Julia Leonardo (set by Grace Daniels)
Set 1 · MERMCK 22-22 IONA · IONA 68% → 73%
05
IonaAce+4.1%
Iona ace on Ella Maldonado
Set 1 · MERMCK 22-21 IONA · IONA 63% → 68%
06
Fabiola BetancourtAttack error+2.9%
Attack error by Fabiola Betancourt
Set 1 · MERMCK 22-20 IONA · IONA 61% → 63%
07
Julia LeonardoAttack error+2.8%
Attack error by Julia Leonardo
Set 1 · MERMCK 23-24 IONA · MERMCK 16% → 19%
08
Tamilore AfolaluKill+2.8%
Kill by Tamilore Afolalu (set by Sophia DeBonis)
Set 1 · MERMCK 21-17 IONA · MERMCK 37% → 40%

Box score

Official NCAA box

Merrimackaway

Player	S	K	E	TA	Hit%	AST	SA	SE	DIG	RE	BS	BA	BLK	PTS
6Fabiola BetancourtOH	3	12	6	34	.176	0	0	3	7	2	0	0	0	12
7Tamilore AfolaluOH	3	11	3	22	.364	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	1	12
8Jocelyn HammerstrandOPP	3	4	6	22	-.091	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	5
14Maiella BlandinOH	3	4	1	10	.300	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.5	4.5
3Sophia DeBonisS	3	2	0	5	.400	20	0	1	5	0	0	0	0	2
13Mia IzzoMB	2	1	3	7	-.286	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0.5	1.5
22Devon LoweS	3	1	0	2	.500	10	2	0	6	0	0	0	0	3
12Ella MaldonadoL/DS	3	0	0	0	–	3	3	0	13	2	0	0	0	3
9Avry BryantOPP	3	2	2	8	.000	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0.5	2.5
18Sienna FranksL/DS	3	0	0	0	–	1	1	0	8	0	0	0	0	1
15Gabrielle MooreS	3	0	0	0	–	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17Kaitlyn OxceusOH	2	1	1	2	.000	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	0.5	1.5
19Elizabeth KenneyS	2	0	0	0	–	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5Maddy FennessyL/DS	2	0	0	0	–	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team totals		38	22	112	.143	36	6	7	45	8	1	6	4	62

Ionahome

Player	S	K	E	TA	Hit%	AST	SA	SE	DIG	RE	BA	BLK	PTS
11Kari SmithOH	3	10	4	26	.231	0	2	0	8	3	1	0.5	12.5
12Julia LeonardoOH	3	11	4	28	.250	1	0	0	2	1	2	1	12
4Buse TinazMB	3	4	1	8	.375	0	4	2	1	0	2	1	9
18Ezzie ThompsonMB	3	3	0	7	.429	2	0	0	1	0	4	2	5
8Emma KocejaOH	3	4	2	11	.182	0	0	0	1	0	1	0.5	4.5
3Grace DanielsS	3	0	0	0	–	11	1	0	10	0	0	0	1
14Katherine FerngOH	3	4	2	14	.143	0	0	0	4	0	2	1	5
15Jaylyn SimonS	3	0	0	0	–	15	1	1	4	0	0	0	1
7Avery GaumeL/DS	3	0	0	0	–	3	0	0	9	1	0	0	0
2Sanem BasOH	3	0	0	0	–	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
21Mija JegersOH	2	1	0	2	.500	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Team totals		37	13	96	.250	33	8	3	45	6	12	6	75

Starters listed first. BLK is the NCAA total: a solo counts 1, a block assist ½. Recaps and press releases usually quote solos + assists instead, so the same night can be reported as a bigger, whole number. The box score is the source for every counting stat on this page.

Merrimack vs Iona

Season series · Iona leads 1-0

Sat, Sep 26, 2026Merrimack at Iona · Iona won 3-0This match
Fri, Nov 6, 2026Iona at MerrimackPreview →

Momentum

Point differential by rally

Longest run 8 MERMCK · IONA 7

Set 1

23-25

Longest run 4 MERMCKIONA 7

Set 2

20-25

Longest run 3 MERMCKIONA 3

Set 3

19-25

Longest run 8 MERMCKIONA 6

Bars above the line = Iona leads, below = Merrimack leads. Bright bars are points inside a run of 3+.

Rotations

Sideout and break % by rotation slot

Merrimack

Slot	Sideout %	Break %
1	58%7/12	25%2/8
2	60%6/10	30%3/10
3	60%6/10	54%7/13
4	36%5/14	60%9/15
5	25%5/20	50%5/10
6	57%4/7	38%3/8
All	45%33/73	45%29/64

Iona

Slot	Sideout %	Break %
1	78%7/9	17%1/6
2	55%6/11	50%6/12
3	50%6/12	45%5/11
4	33%6/18	50%6/12
5	83%5/6	62%8/13
6	63%5/8	74%14/19
All	55%35/64	55%40/73

Slot = rotations since the start of the set (slot 1 is the lineup a team opened the set in), not a fixed player alignment. Only clean sets count (3 of 3 here): sets where the NCAA play-by-play has gaps or score corrections are left out because the rotation can't be tracked through them.

Rally log

137 rallies

#	MERMCK-IONA	Srv	Point	End	Player	Setter / blockers / passer	WP Δ
Set 1
1	1-0	MERMCK	MERMCK	Bad set	Grace Daniels		+1.9
2	2-0	MERMCK	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Ella Maldonado	+2.0
3	2-1	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Grace Daniels	+1.6
4	2-2	IONA	IONA	Kill	Buse Tinaz	set Grace Daniels	+1.9
5	3-2	IONA	MERMCK×3	Attack err	Emma Koceja		+1.7
6	4-2	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Bad set	Grace Daniels		+2.1
7	5-2	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Kill	Jocelyn Hammerstrand	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.2
8	5-3	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Kari Smith	set Grace Daniels	+1.7
9	5-4	IONA	IONA	Blocked	Tamilore Afolalu	blk Buse Tinaz, Katherine Ferng	+2.0
10	6-4	IONA	MERMCK×4	Serve err	Iona		+1.9
11	7-4	MERMCK	MERMCK×4	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.3
12	8-4	MERMCK	MERMCK×4	Blocked	Kari Smith	blk Mia Izzo, Jocelyn Hammerstrand	+2.3
13	9-4	MERMCK	MERMCK×4	Ace	Merrimack	aced Kari Smith	+2.2
14	9-5	MERMCK	IONA	Attack err	Jocelyn Hammerstrand		+1.6
15	10-5	IONA	MERMCK	Attack err	Julia Leonardo		+1.9
16	10-6	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.6
17	11-6	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Mia Izzo	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.0
18	11-7	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Kari Smith	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.6
19	11-8	IONA	IONA	Blocked	Mia Izzo	blk Ezzie Thompson, Julia Leonardo	+2.1
20	12-8	IONA	MERMCK×4	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.2
21	13-8	MERMCK	MERMCK×4	Kill	Sophia DeBonis	set Sienna Franks	+2.4
22	14-8	MERMCK	MERMCK×4	Kill	Jocelyn Hammerstrand	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.1
23	15-8	MERMCK	MERMCK×4	Attack err	Julia Leonardo		+1.8
24	15-9	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		+1.0
25	16-9	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Sophia DeBonis	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.5
26	16-10	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Kari Smith	set Ezzie Thompson	+1.0
27	16-11	IONA	IONA	Attack err	Fabiola Betancourt		+1.5
28	17-11	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.8
29	18-11	MERMCK	MERMCK	Kill	Maiella Blandin	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.6
30	18-12	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Buse Tinaz	set Grace Daniels	+0.9
31	18-13	IONA	IONA	Ace	Iona	aced Ella Maldonado	+1.4
32	19-13	IONA	MERMCK	Blocked	Kari Smith	blk Jocelyn Hammerstrand, Maiella Blandin	+1.7
33	19-14	MERMCK	IONA×3	Kill	Kari Smith	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.1
34	19-15	IONA	IONA×3	Kill	Kari Smith	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.7
35	19-16	IONA	IONA×3	Ace	Iona	aced Tamilore Afolalu	+2.3
36	20-16	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Jocelyn Hammerstrand	+2.7
37	20-17	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Katherine Ferng	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.9
38	21-17	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.8
39	22-17	MERMCK	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Sophia DeBonis	+2.3
40	22-18	MERMCK	IONA×7	Attack err	Mia Izzo		+1.1
41	22-19	IONA	IONA×7	Attack err	Mia Izzo		+1.9
42	22-20	IONA	IONA×7	Attack err	Fabiola Betancourt		+2.9
43	22-21	IONA	IONA×7	Ace	Iona	aced Ella Maldonado	+4.1
44	22-22	IONA	IONA×7	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Grace Daniels	+5.2
45	22-23	IONA	IONA×7	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Ezzie Thompson	+5.9
46	22-24	IONA	IONA×7	Kill	Emma Koceja	set Avery Gaume	+5.3
47	23-24	IONA	MERMCK	Attack err	Julia Leonardo		+2.8
48	23-25	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		+5.8
Set 2
1	1-0	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.3
2	1-1	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Emma Koceja	set Grace Daniels	+1.2
3	2-1	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Jocelyn Hammerstrand	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.3
4	2-2	MERMCK	IONA	Attack err	Jocelyn Hammerstrand		+1.2
5	3-2	IONA	MERMCK	Attack err	Katherine Ferng		+1.3
6	4-2	MERMCK	MERMCK	Kill	Avry Bryant	set Ella Maldonado	+1.6
7	4-3	MERMCK	IONA×3	Kill	Buse Tinaz	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.3
8	4-4	IONA	IONA×3	Ace	Iona	aced Tamilore Afolalu	+1.5
9	4-5	IONA	IONA×3	Attack err	Tamilore Afolalu		+1.5
10	5-5	IONA	MERMCK×3	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Devon Lowe	+1.3
11	6-5	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Ace	Merrimack		+1.7
12	7-5	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Kill	Avry Bryant	set Devon Lowe	+1.8
13	7-6	MERMCK	IONA	Bad set	Devon Lowe		+1.4
14	7-7	IONA	IONA	Kill	Emma Koceja	set Grace Daniels	+1.7
15	8-7	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Devon Lowe	+1.5
16	8-8	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Ezzie Thompson	set Grace Daniels	+1.5
17	9-8	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Devon Lowe	+1.6
18	9-9	MERMCK	IONA	Blocked	Jocelyn Hammerstrand	blk Ezzie Thompson, Kari Smith	+1.5
19	10-9	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Maiella Blandin	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.6
20	10-10	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		+1.6
21	11-10	IONA	MERMCK×3	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.7
22	12-10	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Ace	Merrimack	aced Julia Leonardo	+2.1
23	13-10	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Ace	Merrimack	aced Avery Gaume	+2.1
24	13-11	MERMCK	IONA×3	Kill	Kari Smith	set Jaylyn Simon	+1.6
25	13-12	IONA	IONA×3	Ace	Iona	aced Fabiola Betancourt	+2.0
26	13-13	IONA	IONA×3	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Avery Gaume	+2.1
27	14-13	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Sophia DeBonis	+1.9
28	14-14	MERMCK	IONA×3	Kill	Katherine Ferng	set Julia Leonardo	+1.8
29	14-15	IONA	IONA×3	Kill	Ezzie Thompson	set Tamilore Afolalu	+2.1
30	14-16	IONA	IONA×3	Attack err	Avry Bryant		+2.0
31	15-16	IONA	MERMCK×3	Serve err	Iona		+1.7
32	16-16	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Devon Lowe	+2.3
33	17-16	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Devon Lowe	+2.7
34	17-17	MERMCK	IONA×3	Kill	Katherine Ferng	set Jaylyn Simon	+2.2
35	17-18	IONA	IONA×3	Kill	Ezzie Thompson	set Devon Lowe	+2.6
36	17-19	IONA	IONA×3	Attack err	Fabiola Betancourt		+2.4
37	18-19	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Elizabeth Kenney	+1.9
38	18-20	MERMCK	IONA×3	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Avery Gaume	+2.2
39	18-21	IONA	IONA×3	Attack err	Maiella Blandin		+2.1
40	18-22	IONA	IONA×3	Attack err	Fabiola Betancourt		+1.5
41	19-22	IONA	MERMCK	Attack err	Emma Koceja		+0.8
42	19-23	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		+1.3
43	20-23	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Maiella Blandin	set Sophia DeBonis	+0.7
44	20-24	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Emma Koceja	set Grace Daniels	+1.1
45	20-25	IONA	IONA	Kill	Katherine Ferng	set Jaylyn Simon	+0.4
Set 3
1	0-1	MERMCK	IONA×4	Kill	Kari Smith	set Grace Daniels	+0.6
2	0-2	IONA	IONA×4	Kill	Kari Smith	set Sanem Bas	+0.7
3	0-3	IONA	IONA×4	Blocked	Fabiola Betancourt	blk Emma Koceja, Buse Tinaz	+0.6
4	0-4	IONA	IONA×4	Attack err	Jocelyn Hammerstrand		+0.6
5	1-4	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Maiella Blandin	set Sophia DeBonis	+0.5
6	1-5	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		+0.5
7	1-6	IONA	IONA	Kill	Mija Jegers	set Jaylyn Simon	+0.5
8	2-6	IONA	MERMCK×3	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Sophia DeBonis	+0.4
9	3-6	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Sophia DeBonis	+0.5
10	4-6	MERMCK	MERMCK×3	Kill	Jocelyn Hammerstrand	set Sophia DeBonis	+0.7
11	4-7	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Buse Tinaz	set Jaylyn Simon	+0.6
12	5-7	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Kaitlyn Oxceus	set Sophia DeBonis	+0.6
13	6-7	MERMCK	MERMCK	Attack err	Buse Tinaz		+0.8
14	6-8	MERMCK	IONA×6	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Jaylyn Simon	+0.7
15	6-9	IONA	IONA×6	Ace	Iona	aced Fabiola Betancourt	+0.7
16	6-10	IONA	IONA×6	Ace	Iona	aced Tamilore Afolalu	+0.6
17	6-11	IONA	IONA×6	Attack err	Avry Bryant		+0.5
18	6-12	IONA	IONA×6	Ace	Iona	aced Tamilore Afolalu	+0.4
19	6-13	IONA	IONA×6	Blocked	Tamilore Afolalu	blk Ezzie Thompson, Katherine Ferng	+0.3
20	7-13	IONA	MERMCK	Serve err	Iona		+0.2
21	7-14	MERMCK	IONA×6	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Jaylyn Simon	+0.3
22	7-15	IONA	IONA×6	Attack err	Jocelyn Hammerstrand		+0.2
23	7-16	IONA	IONA×6	Attack err	Jocelyn Hammerstrand		+0.1
24	7-17	IONA	IONA×6	Attack err	Fabiola Betancourt		+0.1
25	7-18	IONA	IONA×6	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Grace Daniels	+0.1
26	7-19	IONA	IONA×6	Blocked	Kaitlyn Oxceus	blk Ezzie Thompson, Julia Leonardo	·
27	8-19	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Devon Lowe	·
28	8-20	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Grace Daniels	·
29	8-21	IONA	IONA	Kill	Kari Smith		·
30	9-21	IONA	MERMCK	Attack err	Kari Smith		·
31	9-22	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		·
32	10-22	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Fabiola Betancourt	set Devon Lowe	·
33	10-23	MERMCK	IONA	Serve err	Merrimack		·
34	11-23	IONA	MERMCK	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Devon Lowe	·
35	11-24	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Kari Smith	set Jaylyn Simon	·
36	12-24	IONA	MERMCK×8	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Devon Lowe	·
37	13-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Blocked	Julia Leonardo	blk Kaitlyn Oxceus, Avry Bryant	·
38	14-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Attack err	Kari Smith		·
39	15-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Ace	Merrimack	aced Kari Smith	·
40	16-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Kill	Tamilore Afolalu	set Ella Maldonado	·
41	17-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Ace	Merrimack	aced Kari Smith	·
42	18-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Kill	Devon Lowe	set Jaylyn Simon	·
43	19-24	MERMCK	MERMCK×8	Blocked	Katherine Ferng	blk Tamilore Afolalu	·
44	19-25	MERMCK	IONA	Kill	Julia Leonardo	set Jaylyn Simon	+0.1

Score shown after each rally, Merrimack first. WP Δ = match win-probability points gained, colored by the team that gained them.“NCAA feed gap” rows mark points the NCAA play-by-play never logged (tap Why? for details).

Iona def. Merrimack 3–0