Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Iona College gave the Stags all they could handle, but the Fairfield University volleyball team prevailed with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 15-13) victory in front of a raucous crowd at Alumni Hall.

 

The Stags (9-14; 8-3 MAAC) extended their home winning streak to 15 matches with the win. After the first three sets, it looked like the Gaels (13-8; 7-4 MAAC) might hand Fairfield only its second home MAAC loss since 2003, but the Stags fed off the crowd energy and took the fourth and fifth sets to secure the victory.

 

After dropping the first set, 25-22, the Stags took the second 25-20 to even things up. Iona dominated in the third set, taking the stanza 25-18. Fairfield regrouped in the fourth set and never trailed the entire frame, pulling away with a 25-21 win to force a deciding set.

 

In the fifth set, Iona pulled out to a 5-2 lead and prompted a Fairfield timeout. After huddling up, junior Alex Lopez (Fort Collins, Colo.) delivered back-to-back kills to make it a one-point match. After a Gaels timeout, an Iona error tied the score at 5-5. Iona would open up a two-point lead, but Fairfield did not back down as Haililani Pokipala (Honolulu, Hawaii) tied the score, 8-8, with a kill.

 

After exchanging points, the Gaels pulled ahead, 12-10, but the Stags surged back once more. Sophomore Brianna Dixion (Long Beach, Calif.) tied the set, 12-12, with a strike that fell in between the Iona defense. Lopez followed with a kill to give the Stags the lead but Iona's Theresa Garvey got the point back with a kill of her own. Freshman Hayley Moyer (Riverside, Calif.) delivered a crucial kill that bounced just inside the backline to give Fairfield the 14-13 lead. With the match on the line, Lopez made a desperate dig for the ball on an Iona swing which senior Hannah Segebart (Littleton, Colo.) was able to bump to sophomore Kara Reis (Ramona, Calif.) in the back rowwho smacked it over the net and just out of the reach of a diving Iona defense to give the Stags the 15-13 victory.

 

Pokipala, the reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Week, recorded her third-straight double-double and her eighth of the season, with a match-high 16 kills and 10 digs. Dixion finished the day with 10 kills and five digs while Lopez had 10 digs and eight kills. Moyer posted nine kills and two total blocks.

 

Reis tallied a season-high 24 digs to go along with a kill. Freshman Rachel Romansky (Denver, Colo.) just missed a double-double, finishing with 44 assists and nine digs along with six kills. Junior Bethany Steiger (Cary, Ill.) had four kills, four digs, and four total blocks.