Box Score NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – After climbing out of a 2-0 hole to force a deciding fifth set, the Fairfield University volleyball team was edged by host Niagara, 3-2, in the club's 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener. Skyler Day and Kiley Lingenfelter each posted a double-double for the Stags.
Day and Megan Theiller each posted 11 kills to lead Fairfield (4-6, 0-1 MAAC) offensively. Rookie Kaitlyn Fisher added the best outing of her young collegiate career with eight kills on 10 errorless swings to register an .800 hitting percentage. Fellow rookies Oyinkansola Akinola and Chanel Cooper also chipped in from the Fairfield bench with six and five kills, respectively.
Lingenfelter and Sydney Buckley shared setting duties and doled out 22 and 21 assists, respectively, while running the Fairfield offense to a .093 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Mallory Bechtold had a team-leading 23 digs, while Day added 12 and Lingenfelter posted 10 from the back row. Theiller was just shy of a double-double with nine digs. Akinola led the effort at the net with a hand in five of the Stags' 11 team blocks. Sydney Williams and Nora Quinn each got a piece of four rejections, and Cooper elevated for three send-backs.
Alexis Gray neared a triple-double to lead Niagara with seven kills, 32 assists and 31 digs, and Melissa McGwin paced the Purple Eagles' attack with 12 kills on .478 hitting (12-1-23). The hosts hit a cumulative .170 and edged Fairfield at the net with 12 blocks. McGwin had nine stuffs for Niagara, including six of the solo variety.
A slow start plagued the Stags in the opening set as Niagara turned an 13-1 lead into a 25-11 victory. The second set featured the most back-and-forth action of the match with 10 ties and four lead changes, but it was once again the Purple Eagles who came out on top with a 25-23 decision.
Day led the Stags' comeback in the next two stanza, combining for seven kills on 10 swings without an error. Fisher added six kills on errorless swings during the stretch and Akinola sent home four finishers on seven attempts without an error as Fairfield pulled even in the match with set wins of 25-19 and 25-21.
The Stags' rally would fall short, however, as the Purple Eagles raced out to a 7-2 lead in the fifth frame and never looked back en route to a 15-7 win to escape with a five-set decision on their home court.
“We are all disappointed with our effort from the first point today,” said Head Coach Todd Kress. “Winning obviously does not come easy, and our younger student-athletes are starting to realize the amount of energy and passion that it takes to compete at this level.”
The Stags wrap up the MAAC's Western New York swing tomorrow at 1 p.m. with an outing at Canisius. The action will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Next weekend, Fairfield hosts MAAC action for the first time in 2015 when Quinnipiac comes to Alumni Hall on Saturday, Sept. 26 for a 1 p.m. meeting. The in-state conference clash with the Bobcats will be broadcast live on FairfieldStags.TV.
