Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University volleyball team clinched at least a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title with a 3-0 sweep of visiting Manhattan on Saturday at Alumni Hall. The Stags have also secured the top seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship after today's win by set scores of 25-19, 25-15 and 25-9.
Fairfield lays claim to the regular season title with a 13-4 MAAC record as part of an 18-9 overall mark. The Stags, who have won nine consecutive matches, would take home the outright crown with a victory tomorrow over Iona in the regular season finale.
“After an 0-2 start to conference play, I could not be prouder of this team and the way they have persevered to earn the top seed going into next weekend,” said Head Coach Todd Kress.
In today's win, Fairfield overpowered the Jaspers with a .315 hitting percentage. Skyler Day hit .519 with a match-high 16 kills (16-2-27) and Megan O'Sullivan swung at a .571 clip with eight kills on 14 errorless swings.
Day and Megan Theiller both posted double-doubles in the sweep. Day added 11 digs to her 16 kills while Theiller registered 14 kills and a match-best 15 digs. Rounding out the offense was the first-year trio of Kaitlyn Fisher, Oyinkansola Akinola and Chanel Cooper with four, three and two kills, respectively.
The offense was run through Sydney Buckley, who distributed 37 assists to go along with eight digs and two kills of her own. Taylor Rudeen also chipped in four assists from the libero spot in addition to her 14 digs in the back row.
At the net, the MAAC's top-blocking team racked up seven more. O'Sullivan was a part of six Stags' send-backs, including two solo rejections, with Theiller, and Fisher both getting a piece of two stuffs.
“After a slow start, I thought we played one of our more complete matches of the season,” said Kress. “We executed at every phase of the game from serving, blocking, defensively and in transition. Sydney again made good decisions today at setter and her attackers did a nice job of mixing it up in transition.”
The Jaspers were led by nine kills from Claire Van Dyk, who just missed a double-double with a team-best 11 digs. Jade Gray dished out 23 assists to guide the Manhattan offense to a .136 hitting percentage. The Jaspers have also clinched a MAAC postseason berth at 18-13 overall and 11-6 in the conference.
Fairfield will host Iona tomorrow – Sunday, Nov. 15 – to wrap-up the regular season. First serve on George R. Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall is slated for 1 p.m.
The Stags begin the postseason in the MAAC Championship Semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 21 against an opponent to be determined. The Championship will be held at Siena's Alumni Recreation Center in Loudonville, N.Y.
FairfieldStags.com will have the most up-to-date information from the 2015 MAAC Championship as it is finalized by the conference office.
