FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University volleyball team won the 2016 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 victory over in-state foe Quinnipiac on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. The Stags take home their record-tying ninth MAAC Championship with the win. Megan O'Sullivan was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
"I couldn't be prouder of this team," said Todd Kress, the 2016 MAAC Coach of the Year for a conference-record fifth time. "They are great people who make good decisions on and off the court, and they have worked incredibly hard to get here."
Fairfield earns the MAAC's automatic berth into the NCAA postseason, where they will make their conference-record ninth appearance. The Stags learn their opponent and destination on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 9 p.m. when the Selection Show airs live on ESPNU.
Fairfield has now won four of the last five MAAC Championships, going back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 and now in 2015 and 2016. Todd Kress also collects his fourth MAAC Championship, having won in 1997 and 1998 during his first tenure at Fairfield and then returning to win in his two most recent campaigns with the Stags.
Today's victory, which came by set scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-23, extends the nation's longest winning streak to 22 matches. Fairfield will also carry a 31-match winning streak over MAAC opponents (postseason included) into the 2017 campaign.
O'Sullivan had seven kills and three blocks in today's sweep of Quinnipiac, picking up MVP honors after slamming home a career-high 19 kills on .500 hitting alongside six blocks in Saturday's semifinal victory over Siena. She is a two-time First Team All-MAAC honoree.
Skyler Day and Megan Theiller – also First Team All-MAAC selections this fall – join O'Sullivan on the All-Championship Team after each recorded 18 kills against the Bobcats. Day, who is also the 2016 MAAC Player of the Year, eclipsed 1,000 career kills in today's match. She has compiled 912 finishers in two seasons with the Stags after recording an even 100 kills in her freshman campaign at Buffalo in 2014.
Rounding out the attack in today's contest, Mayda Garcia had three kills, Manuela Nicolini recorded two, and Kaitlyn Fisher and Sydney Buckley posted one apiece. The offense was run to a .283 hitting percentage by Nicolini and Buckley, who distributed 23 and 16 assists, respectively.
Defensively, Mallory Bechtold led the way at the net with a match-high 15 digs. Theiller added seven digs and the trio of Day, Fisher and Taylor Rudeen each posted six. At the net, O'Sullivan and Garcia each had a hand in three of the Stags' six blocks, with Day and Nicolini notching two apiece and Fisher playing a part in one rejection.
Fairfield capped its scoring efforts with four service aces as Bechtold, Day, O'Sullivan and Rudeen each landed one winner from behind the service line.
Quinnipiac concludes a landmark season in which the program went 21-13 and reached its first-ever conference championship match at the Division I level. The Bobcats, who improved by 18 matches against going 3-28 last fall, were led today by 11 kills from Kat Miller and 10 by Allison Leigh. Maria Pansari handed out 31 assists for the visitors, and Natalie Alechko had 11 digs.
The Stags' last MAAC Championship win at Alumni Hall came in 2012. It was the first of Todd Kress's four MAAC Championships that Fairfield won on the Stags' home court.
"We are thankful for the support of the fans that came out to cheer for us yesterday and today," said Kress. "The students, student-athletes, coaches, faculty and staff made us all very proud to be a part of the Fairfield University community."
