FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Thirteen matches on George R. Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall highlight the 2016 schedule for the Fairfield University volleyball team, as announced today by Head Coach Todd Kress. The defending MAAC Champion Stags will play five first-time opponents in the non-conference slate in addition to the 18-match MAAC schedule.
“We are all very excited to get back on the court and tackle our 2016 schedule,” said Kress, the 2015 MAAC Coach of the Year. “We have upgraded our non-conference schedule to prepare us for MAAC play and create opportunities to improve our RPI. With everybody that we have returning as well as a great bunch of newcomers joining us, we are preparing for what will hopefully be an exciting 2016 campaign.”
The season begins in Albuquerque, where the Stags will play four matches at the University of New Mexico beginning with Idaho and Arizona State on Friday, Aug. 26. Action concludes the following day against Abilene Christian and the host New Mexico Lobos.
With the exception of Idaho, who the Stags defeated in 1999, three of the Fairfield's matches in Albuquerque are first-time meetings.
One of two NCAA Championship qualifiers on the 2016 slate, Arizona State earned an at-large bid after racking up 19 wins as a member of the powerhouse Pac-12. The Sun Devils, who ranked has high as No. 5 in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 last fall, were upended by Florida State in the first round of the national postseason.
The Stags will return to the Northeast the following weekend for four matches at Holy Cross in an all-New England affair. Action in Worcester begins on Sept. 2 against Brown and Bryant followed by meetings with UMass Lowell – another first-time opponent for Fairfield – and Holy Cross on Sept. 3.
The Stags' third and final tournament prior to MAAC play will be held in the familiar confines of Alumni Hall for the Fairfield Invitational. Fairfield hosts crosstown rival Sacred Heart and first-time opponent James Madison on Sept. 9 followed by a clash with Villanova on Sept. 10.
Villanova is the second NCAA qualifier on Fairfield's non-conference slate. The Wildcats were tipped by Creighton in the Big East Championship Match but received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. Villanova's season ended at 25-9 with a first round loss to Dayton.
Action on Bisacca Court continues during the week as the Stags host St. John's on Wednesday, Sept. 14 prior to the start of MAAC competition on the road that weekend.
The Stags' official defense of their 2015 MAAC Championship begins on Sept. 17-18 with trips to Rider and Saint Peter's, and conference play comes to Alumni Hall the following weekend – Sept. 24-25 – against visiting Manhattan and Iona.
After a midweek trip to Marist in a rematch of the 2015 MAAC Championship Match on Sept. 28, the calendar flips over with Niagara and Canisius coming to Fairfield on Oct. 1-2. Another Wednesday jaunt – this time to Siena on Oct. 5 – and a short trip to Quinnipiac on Oct. 8 mark the halfway point of the conference slate.
Before beginning their second trip through the MAAC, the Stags head across town to Sacred Heart for a return meeting with the Pioneers on Oct. 12. That weekend – Oct. 15-16 – Fairfield is back home to host Siena and Marist before visiting Iona and Manhattan on Oct. 22-23.
Rider and Saint Peter's then take their respective trips through Alumni Hall on Oct. 29-30, and Fairfield treks upstate to Canisius and Niagara on Nov. 5-6. After wrapping up the non-conference slate at Stony Brook on Wednesday, Nov. 9, the regular season concludes on Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall with a Senior Day visit from Quinnipiac.
For the first time since 2012, Alumni Hall will host the MAAC Championship from Nov. 18-20. The top six seeds receive berths the conference postseason, with the two highest seeds earning byes to the semifinal round.
Fairfield went 21-10 last fall en route to its eighth MAAC Championship and NCAA postseason berth. The Stags, who also won their 15th MAAC regular season title, drew No. 3 Texas in the NCAA First Round and were swept in Austin by the eventual national finalist Longhorns. First Team All-MAAC performers Skyler Day and Megan O'Sullivan and 2015 MAAC Championship MVP Megan Theiller headline Fairfield's roster of returning student-athletes.
Schedule Notes
Fairfield will play five non-conference opponents that posted a final 2015 RPI better than the Stags' final ranking of 158: Villanova (39), Arizona State (40), James Madison (75), New Mexico (107) and St. John's (125).
The Stags' 13 non-conference opponents represent 10 different conferences and 10 different states. Fairfield is playing teams from the states of Arizona and New Mexico for the first time in program history.
The season-opening trip to Albuquerque is the Fairfield's farthest trip west since beginning the 2013 campaign at the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City.
With meetings against crosstown rival Sacred Heart set for Sept. 9 and Oct. 12, the Stags will play a non-MAAC foe twice in the same season for the first time since challenging Dartmouth twice in 2012.
