Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Playing in the final home match of her career, senior Haililani Pokipala said goodbye to Alumni Hall in grand fashion, recording her 1,000th career dig as the Fairfield University volleyball team downed Marist College 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-19) this evening.
 
Fairfield, winners of 13 of its last 14 matches, improves to 16-9 overall and 13-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Marist falls to 11-13 overall and 8-6 in league play with the loss.
 
Entering the match needing 13 digs to complete the feat, Pokipala finished with that exact number while delivering seven kills on offense. With the third set coming to a close, Pokipala needed just one dig to reach the career mark. She seemed to have it after getting to a ball hit by Marist's Grace Hill, but a Stags net violation negated it and made the score 23-17. With the scoreboard reading 24-18, Pokipala finally got her historic dig off a swing by Stephanie Robinett much to the delight of a raucous Fairfield crowd. Pokipala becomes the 11th Stag in program history to hit 1,000 career digs and the second Stag this season as libero Kara Reis  reached the milestone in October.
 
Seniors Kendal Dirkin and Lauren Balmert also bid farewell to Alumni Hall with outstanding efforts. Dirkin tallied a match-high 11 kills on .500 hitting to go along with four total blocks while Balmert tallied 10 digs on defense.
 
Freshman Camille Coffey had nine kills while freshman Caitlin Stapleton notched eight kills and two total blocks. Freshman Lindsay Weaver added six kills and a block while setter Rachel Romansky delivered a solid all-around effort with 34 assists, nine digs, three total blocks, and three kills.
 
Defensively, Reis recorded a match-high 19 digs while Carsen Mata had seven digs.
 
In the first set, the score was tied, 15-15, when a block by Dirkin and Romansky gave the Stags the lead. Pokipala then stepped to the line and served seven unanswered points to push the advantage to 23-15. The Stags held off the Red Foxes, going on to the 25-16 win.
 
Fairfield was trailing 23-20 in the second stanza when a kill by Mata sparked a crucial run for the Stags. Behind the service of Reis, a kill by Dirkin tied the score at 23-23 and Stapleton gave the Stags the lead with a kill. An error by Marist gave Fairfield the 25th point of the set and a 2-0 lead.
 
The Stags used an 8-3 run midway through the third set to pull away from the Red Foxes, 19-13. Fairfield never looked back and went on to the 25-19 win.
 
Fairfield, which went 8-1 in Alumni Hall this season, plays its final three MAAC matches on the road. Fairfield heads to Manhattan College on November 5 and to Saint Peter's College on November 6. The Stags close out the regular season on November 12 at Iona College. The 2011 MAAC Volleyball Championship will be held November 19-20 in Jersey City, N.J.