Weekly Notes

Fairfield, a winner in six of the last seven, finishes out a four-match road swing at Saint Peter's University on Saturday and Manhattan College on Sunday. The Stags also close out the regular season series with the Peacocks and the Jaspers.

On The Web: Saint Peter's will be providing Live Stats for Saturday's match. Manhattan will be providing Live Stats for Sunday's match.

Fairfield (13-8; 8-3 MAAC) vs. Saint Peter's (1-24; 0-11 MAAC): Fairfield opened MAAC play on September 15 with a 3-0 victory over Saint Peter's. Senior Brianna Dixion posted 14 kills and a .480 attack percentage while Caitlin Stapleton had 12 kills and four total blocks. Setter Rachel Romansky posted a double-double, finishing with 37 assists and 12 digs, while Kara Reis tallied 21 digs. The Stags have won 15 of the last 16 meetings, including three-straight victories. Saint Peter's last win against Fairfield came on November 4, 2010. Fairfield is 33-10 all-time against SPU. For her career against SPU, Brianna Dixion averages 3.05 kills per set. Junior Hayley Moyer averages 2.29 kills with nine blocks while Caitlin Stapleton averages 2.22 kills with seven total blocks. Rachel Romansky averages 11.24 assists and 3.24 digs per set and has posted 25 kills against Saint Peter's in her career.

Fairfield vs. Manhattan (12-10; 7-4 MAAC): The Stags posted a 3-1 victory over the Jaspers in Alumni Hall on September 16. Senior Brianna Dixion led the way with 19 kills while Lindsay Weaver had 13 kills on .370 hitting with seven total blocks. Caitlin Stapleton was also in double-digits with 12 kills and five total blocks. Rachel Romansky had a double-double with 54 assists and 17 digs while Kara Reis had 27 digs and five assists. Fairfield has won 16 of the last 17 matches against Manhattan, including four-straight. Manhattan's last win came on November 6, 2010. The Stags are 39-6 all-time against the Jaspers. For her career against Manhattan, Brianna Dixion averages 2.65 kills with 10 total blocks. Caitlin Stapleton averages 2.73 kills with 10 total blocks while Lindsay Weaver averages 2.50 kills and 1.25 blocks per set.

Fairfield in MAAC Matches: The Stags are averaging 14.61 kills and 19.58 digs per set against MAAC opponents this season. League opposition is averaging just 11.34 kills and 16.68 digs per set. Fairfield is out-blocking MAAC foes 79.5 - 58.0 and holds a 49-36 advantage in service aces. Since 1997, Fairfield is 171-26 against MAAC opponents during the regular season.

National Notice: Fairfield is currently ranked 15th in the nation in digs, averaging a collective 17.75 digs per set.

Holding Them Down: Nine of the Stags' 13 victories have been in the form of 3-0 decisions. In addition, fourteen of the Stags' last 15 opponents have recorded an attack percentage of .200 or lower. Marist College was the lowest, hitting –.011 on September 26. Quinnipiac University had the lowest kill total with just 15 on September 5.

Heating Up: Over the last five matches, sophomore Caitlin Stapleton has posted 66 kills (3.67/s) on .318 hitting with 12 total blocks. At Canisius on October 13, Stapleton posted a career-high 21 kills.  Classmate Camille Coffey has notched at least nine kills in each of the last five matches. In that span, Coffey is averaging 3.06 kills and 3.72 digs per set to go along with 11 total blocks. She posted a career-high 23 digs at Canisius on October 13.

Getting Started: The Stags are 13-2 this season when winning the first set and 13-2 when winning the second set.

Sunday Funday: Fairfield is 8-0 this season when they play on Sundays.

The MAAC Championship Is Coming!: Fairfield University is set to play host to the 2012 MAAC Volleyball Championship, November 17-18, at Alumni Hall. The top-four teams in the league at season's end will appear in the two-day tournament and tickets are currently available on MAAC.Ticketleap.com. It is the first time Fairfield will host the MAAC Championship since 2007.

Looking Ahead: Fairfield will only have one match on tap next week as the Stags return home to host Iona College on October 27 at 2pm in Alumni Hall.