FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University volleyball team brings a five-match winning streak to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Wednesday evening for a clash with Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe Marist. Two of three remaining teams unbeaten in MAAC play, the Stags and Red Foxes are meeting for the first time since the 2015 MAAC Championship Match.
Fairfield (11-5, 4-0 MAAC) most recently swept a home weekend against conference opponents Manhattan and Iona on Sept. 24-25. Dating back to last season, the Stags have won their last 15 matches against MAAC foes – including last fall's pair of postseason victories.
The Stags have shared the wealth during their current five-match winning streak with five players averaging at least 2.00 kills per set. As a unit, Fairfield is hitting .271 during the stretch while limiting opponents to a .126 clip. The defensive effort has produced 2.33 blocks per frame over the last five contests, including 20 rejections from Kaitlyn Fisher and 16 by Megan O'Sullivan.
On the season as a whole, the Stags have been led offensively by Megan Theiller and Skyler Day. The outside hitting duo currently holds the top two spots in the MAAC with 3.76 and 3.72 kills per set, respectively. As a team, Fairfield leads the conference in kills per set (13.50), assists per set (12.63) and digs per set (14.63). The Stags' .224 hitting percentage ranks second in the MAAC, and their .161 opponent hitting percentage is the best defensive mark in the league.
The Marist Red Foxes (3-10, 3-0 MAAC) have shaken off an 0-10 start with victories in their first three conference outings of the fall. Marist started MAAC play with back-to-back five-set wins over Canisius and Niagara and, most recently, a sweep of visiting Siena. The Red Foxes are yet to play a conference match away from their home court.
Fairfield and Marist shared just one non-conference opponent this fall. The Stags took a four-set decision from James Madison as a part of the Fairfield Invitational on Sept. 10. The weekend prior, the Dukes had bested Marist in four frames as a part of the Cornell Invitational.
The Marist attack has been led by the trio of Nikki DeSerpa (2.36 kills per set), Kelsey Ediger (2.33) and Megan Fergus (2.22). As a unit, the Red Foxes are hitting .153 in an offense run through the setting duo of Taylor vander Biezen and Amanda Schlegel to the tune of 6.70 and 5.27 assists per set, respectively. Defensively, Lexi Millington leads the back row with 4.30 digs per frame, and Ashton Korona has headed the effort at the net with a hand in 40 of Marist's 72 team blocks.
The winner of Wednesday night's match will join Quinnipiac (13-5, 5-0 MAAC) as the only two teams with unblemished MAAC records when the season enters the month of October. Fairfield will challenge its in-state MAAC rival on Oct. 8 in Hamden and on Nov. 12 at Alumni Hall in the Stags' regular season finale. The home-and-home series with Marist wraps up in Fairfield on Oct. 16.
The Stags are back on George Bisacca Court this weekend as MAAC foes Niagara and Canisius come to town on Oct. 1-2. First serve in both contests is slated for 1 p.m.
