NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y . – Since returning from injury, Caitlin Stapleton has been the Staple in the Stags' lineup.  That fact was prevalent in Fairfield's 3-0 win over Iona (25-23, 25-19, 25-16) as the senior recorded 14 kills without committing an error and a season-high .519 hitting percentage.  The win gave the Stags their sixth-straight victory and their ninth win in their last 10 matches.

“Next person up was the theme of today's win,” Head Coach Todd Kress said.  “We got great production from Marilyn Peizer, Maddie Fitzpatrick, and Bella Guanciale off the bench and that was a big part of today's win.”

Fairfield (15-10, 11-4 MAAC) had five players record a kill in the first set with Hadley Orr leading the way with six.  Stapleton notched five kills on seven swings and led the match with a .714 hitting percentage in the first stanza. 

Since returning to the lineup eight matches ago, the Stags are hitting .243 in matches with Stapleton and the senior leads the team averaging 3.38 kills per set in those matches.

“Cait had a huge day,” Coach Kress said.  “She was involved in transition and put up huge offensive numbers.”

Megan Theiller led all players with eight digs in the first set en route to tying a career-high with 20 digs for the third time this season.  Theiller was the one who gave the Stags the lead for good in the first stanza after a kill made the score 23-22 in favor of the road team.  A service ace by Carsen Mata gave the Stags the win after trailing late.

Iona (6-21, 3-12 MAAC) would not lead for the rest of the match, and managed to tie the set only twice.  An Iona service error broke a 14-14 tie in the second and a Stapleton kill broke a 13-13 tie a few points later.

Fairfield committed only two errors in the set and hit .314.  Stapleton led the squad with a .625 hitting percentage.  Peizer contributed five kills in the frame and Theiller continued her hot hitting notching a .571 hitting percentage with four kills.  Camille Coffey had a great set with 13 digs in the frame, six more than any other player.  Mata assisted on 15 of the 16 kills for the Stags.

Fairfield hit even better in the third set, racking up a .417 hitting percentage on 17 kills and just two errors.  Peizer and Lindsay Weaver both had two kills on three swings with Orr leading the team with five kills.  Stapleton notched four kills in the frame.

Along with Theiller, Coffey also tied a match-high with 20 digs.  Iona's Catrina Warren led all players with 17 kills on one error.

It is the third straight season that Fairfield has tallied a winning streak of six or more matches.  The Stags will try to hit lucky number seven when they travel to Riverdale, N.Y. for a match with fourth-place Manhattan at 1pm tomorrow.