FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After locking up the MAAC Regular Season Championship with two home wins, the Fairfield University volleyball team will embark on the longest road trip of the MAAC slate with visits to Canisius and Niagara on Oct. 5-6. The Stags have clinched the top seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship, which will be played on Nov. 18-20 at Alumni Hall.

Fairfield (22-5, 15-0 MAAC) begins the week as owner of the nation's second-longest active winning streak at 16 matches. The run is the longest streak for a Fairfield team since the 2006 squad put together 20 consecutive victories. In addition, the Stags' 24 consecutive wins over MAAC opponents (postseason meetings included) is the fourth-longest active streak against conference foes in all of Division I.

For her performance this past weekend as the Stags locked up their 16th MAAC regular season crown, Megan O'Sullivan was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Player of the Week. The senior co-captain is the fourth different Stag to win MAAC Player of the Week honors this season, joining Skyler Day, Kaitlyn Fisher and Megan Theiller. This week's nod is the fifth straight week that a Fairfield student-athlete has claimed the award. It marks the first time that a MAAC team has won five consecutive Player of the Week awards since 2009 when Fairfield's Katie Mann '10 collected the honor in four straight weeks followed by a weekly nod for Lauren Balmert '12.

In addition, the award is the 11th MAAC weekly honor of any kind for the Stags this fall. To go along with O'Sullivan's recognition this week, Theiller is a three-time Player of the Week, Day is a two-time Player of the Week, Fisher was Player of the Week on Sept. 20, Mallory Bechtold is a three-time Libero of the Week and Manuela Nicolini was tabbed as Rookie of the Week on Oct. 18.

The Stags currently lead the MAAC in hitting percentage (.251), kills per set (14.18), assists per set (13.39), digs per set (15.47) and opponent hitting percentage (.150). Individually, Day leads the MAAC with 4.19 kills and 4.62 points per set. Theiller ranks right behind her teammate and classmate with 4.04 kills and 4.51 points per frame in addition to a .281 hitting percentage that slots seventh in the conference. O'Sullivan rates third in the MAAC with a .324 hitting percentage and, on the defensive end, is the league's third-most prolific blocker at 1.02 rejections per set. In the back row, Bechtold ranks third in digs with 4.64 per frame primarily from the libero spot. Fairfield's potent offense has been engineered by the setting duo of Sydney Buckley and Manuela Nicolini, who rank seventh and eighth in the MAAC in assists per frame at 6.24 and 5.98, respectively.

Theiller enters the weekend with 993 career kills, seven shy of joining Fairfield's 1000-kill club. She would be the 13th Stag to reach the milestone and the fifth to do so in just three seasons. Theiller is also approaching 1,000 career digs with 934 to her credit to date. Of the six Fairfield players to have reached 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their careers, only two – Jen McLaughlin '00 and Lindsey Lee '08 – did so in only three years and only two – Lee and Jazmin Pa'akaula '08 – did so while playing entirely in the rally scoring era (since 2001).

Niagara and Canisius, who played each other last night with host Niagara winning in straight sets, were both swept in their visits to Alumni Hall at the beginning of October. The Purple Eagles improved to 8-6 in the MAAC (10-16 overall) with their win last night and can clinch their own MAAC postseason berth with two victories this weekend. The Golden Griffins stand at 4-10 in the MAAC (6-17 overall) and will likely need to win out and get help to secure a playoff spot.

After a Nov. 9 trip to America East foe Stony Brook to wrap up the non-conference slate, Fairfield returns to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall next weekend to conclude the regular season against in-state MAAC foe Quinnipiac on Nov. 12.

The 2016 MAAC Championship will bring the top six teams in the MAAC to Alumni Hall on Nov. 18-20. As the tournament's top seed, Fairfield will first take the court in the postseason on Nov. 19 in the semifinal round. FairfieldStags.com will provide updated information regarding the MAAC Championship as it is finalized by the conference office in the coming weeks.