ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Fairfield University volleyball team begins the 2016 campaign this weekend with the program's first-ever trip to the state of New Mexico. The defending MAAC Champion Stags will play four matches at the UNM Invitational in Albuquerque on Aug. 26-27.

2016 Fairfield Volleyball Season Preview

Fairfield is coming off of a 21-10 campaign that culminated with the program's eighth MAAC Championship and a trip to meet No. 3 Texas – an eventual national finalist – in the NCAA Championship First Round. The Stags return 10 student-athletes from that squad, including First Team All-MAAC talents Megan O'Sullivan and Skyler Day – the 2016 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year – and 2015 MAAC Championship Most Valuable Player Megan Theiller.

Head Coach Todd Kress will enter his seventh season on the sidelines – the third of his second tenure with the Stags – as the program's all-time leader in wins (134) and games coached (201). Kress earned his conference-record fourth MAAC Coach of the Year Award last fall after previously earning the distinction in three consecutive seasons from 1996-98.

Fairfield vs. Idaho
Friday, Aug. 26 @ Noon (Eastern Time)
Live Stats

The Vandals went 14-16 overall and 10-6 in the Big Sky last fall, wrapping up the year in the semifinal round of the conference postseason. Idaho was tabbed for sixth (of 12 teams) in this fall's Big Sky Coaches' Preseason Poll after graduating three starters. Like the Stags, the Vandals roster boasts 11 underclassmen and just one senior.

The Vandals are the only team on this weekend's slate that has previously challenged Fairfield. The Stags swept Idaho to open the Mikasa Pilot Preview in Portland, Oregon in 1999. Fairfield also topped Memphis, UTSA and host Portland at the event as a part of a season-opening 12-match winning streak.

Fairfield vs. (RV) Arizona State
Friday, Aug. 26 @ 5 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Live Stats

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. Despite being selected to finish 11th of 12 teams in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, the Sun Devils also received 16 votes nationally in the preseason edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.

This will be the Stags' first meeting with any team from the state of Arizona and their first match against a Pac-12 team since falling to Utah, 3-1, at the Utes' home tournament on Aug. 31, 2013. Fairfield has lost its last four matches against Pac-12 (or Pac-10) programs, most recently earning a win over a conference member with a five-set victory over Oregon State at the UConn Invitational on Sept. 23, 2000.

Fairfield vs. Abilene Christian
Saturday, Aug. 27 @ Noon (Eastern Time)
Live Stats

The Wildcats are set to begin their fourth season as a Division I program in 2016. Last fall, Abilene Christian finished at 9-20 with all of their victories coming in Southland Conference action en route to a fourth-place 9-7 mark. The Preseason Coaches' Poll projects the Wildcats to place sixth of the 13th teams in the Southland Conference this season.

Fairfield at New Mexico
Saturday, Aug. 27 @ 8 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Mountain West Network | Live Stats

The finale of the UNM Invitational pits the Stags against the host Lobos. New Mexico went 17-14 last season with a 10-7 tally in the Mountain West. The conference's coaches have selected the Lobos to place fourth on this year's Preseason Poll. The Lobos return 12 letterwinners and three starters from their 2015 team.

Fairfield is 0-4 all-time against the Mountain West with single losses to San Diego State, Utah State and now-former conference members BYU and Utah.

Up Next
The Stags will return to the Northeast next weekend for four matches at Holy Cross in an all-New England affair. Action at the Crusader Classic begins on Sept. 2 against Brown and Bryant followed by meetings with UMass Lowell and Holy Cross on Sept. 3.

Action comes to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall for the first time on Sept. 9-10 for the Fairfield Invitational. The Stags will host Sacred Heart, James Madison and Villanova in the two-day, round-robin event.