FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 contest to Big East power Villanova on Saturday afternoon on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. The encounter, which was the deciding match of the 2016 Fairfield Invitational, was claimed by Villanova by scores of 25-18, 25-23 and 25-14.
With the loss, the Stags end the weekend with a 6-5 record. In Friday's action from Alumni Hall, Fairfield fell to Sacred Heart before bouncing back to upend perennial CAA contender James Madison in four sets.
Villanova, which won 25 matches and earned at at-large selection to the NCAA postseason last fall, swept all of three of its contests this weekend to earn the Fairfield Invitational team title. The Wildcats head back to Philadelphia with a record of 6-3.
Megan Theiller represents Fairfield on the All-Tournament Team for the second straight week. The Stags' junior co-captain was also an All-Tournament honoree as well as MAAC Player of the Week after guiding Fairfield to a 4-0 performance at the Crusader Classic on Sept. 2-3.
This weekend, Theiller shared the tournament high with 4.30 kills per set – sharing that number with fellow All-Tournament pick Sarah Krufka of Sacred Heart. She also ranked fifth with 2.90 digs per set in three matches this weekend, the highest total among non-liberos.
In today's match against Villanova, Theiller picked up 10 kills while Skyler Day led the Fairfield offense with 12 finishers. Oyinkansola Akinola added four kills on five errorless swings from the right side. Rounding out the offense were Sydney Williams and Manuela Nicolini with two kills apiece and one kill each for Megan O'Sullivan and Nora Quinn.
Sydney Buckley dished out 11 assists for the Stags and Nicolini handed out nine as the setting duo ran the attack to a .157 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Mallory Bechtold notched 11 digs from the libero spot, and fellow defensive specialist Taylor Rudeen picked up nine. Day and Theiller supplemented the back row with eight and seven digs, respectively.
At the net, O'Sullivan had a hand in all five of Fairfield's blocks, including a solo effort, and Nicolini got a piece of two rejections.
O'Sullivan also contributing to the scoring from behind the service line, where she landed a pair of aces. Rudeen also dropped in a service ace for the Stags.
Leading the Villanova attack was Amanda Pedersen-Henry, who had 16 kills on .480 hitting. She also had three blocks en route to All-Tournament Team honors. Pedersen-Henry had 3.50 kills per set this weeknd, ranking third among all players at the tournament with a .368 hitting percentage as well as 1.12 blocks per frame.
The Wildcats were also represented on the All-Tournament Team by Claire Crutchfield, who had three kills against the Stags to round out her average of 2.33 per set on .298 hitting for the weekend.
Most Valuable Player honors went to Villanova's Allie Loitz. The 2015 First Team All-Big East performer sent home 11 kills with seven digs against the Stags to cap a weekend in which she pounded 3.67 kills per set on .241 hitting to go along with 2.56 per set, six service aces and seven blocks in nine sets of work.
Fairfield returns to George Bisacca Court on Wednesday, Sept. 14 , welcoming another Big East foe in St. John's to Alumni Hall. The Red Storm, which will play Brown tonight, is currently 7-1 after most recently suffering its first loss of the campaign to UC Santa Barbara earlier today.
After the midweek match, Fairfield kicks off MAAC play with a swing through New Jersey to meet Saint Peter's and Rider on Sept. 17-18.
Fairfield Invitational All-Tournament Team
Allie Loitz, Villanova (Most Valuable Player)
Claire Crutchfield, Villanova
Amanda Pedersen-Henry, Villanova
Sarah Krufka, Sacred Heart
Makayla Dole, Sacred Heart
Megan Theiller, Fairfield
Janey Goodman, James Madison
