NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The meeting of the final two unbeaten teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings lived up to its billing as Fairfield University Volleyball outlasted host Niagara, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon.
Skyler Day posted a career-high 30 kills in the victory.
The Stags' seventh consecutive victory bumps their mark to 11-6 on the season and 6-0 in the MAAC. Niagara sees its eight match winning streak come to an end, dropping to 9-6 overall and 5-1 in conference play. Fairfield took the match by set scores of 30-32, 25-22, 25-14, 20-25 and 15-12. The contest featured 21 ties and 15 lead changes.
"Both teams deserved credit for leaving it all on the court. Over 200 digs combined is an example of that," said Head Coach
Todd Kress. "It's one of those matches where you hate to see someone lose, but we were forunate to take some quality swings down the stretch to win it. I'm proud of our effort to comeback after being down in the fifth set on the road."
The Stags, who also took a five-set win at Niagara last fall, are now 3-2 in five-set outings this season. Fairfield has now won 37 consecutive matches against MAAC teams dating back to 2015 – the third longest active winning streak against conference opponents in the nation.
Day is just the second Stag to reach the 30-kill mark in the rally scoring era (2001-pres.), joining her fellow senior co-captain
Megan Theiller, who rang up 30 finishers last season in a four-set win over Quinnipiac.
Mayda Garcia and
Luci Albertson also reached double figures this afternoon with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Albertson's personal-best offensive output came on .476 hitting.
Sonja Radulovic added eight kills,
Kaylie Butts had four, and
Kaitlyn Fisher and
Nora Quinn each sent home three.
Manuela Nicolini also marked her name in the Fairfield record book, handing out 63 assists. Her mark is the third-highest total in the rally scoring era and the most by the Stags since Carsen Mata's 64 helpers against Manhattan in 2014. Nicolini, who also had four kills of her own, managed the attack to a .145 team hitting percentage.
In the back row,
Taylor Rudeen tied her career high with 32 digs from the libero position. With 23 and 19 digs, respectively, Day and Nicolini each completed a double-double. Radulovic added 18 digs, and Theiller posted 17 to cap her first weekend of action this fall.
In addition to a career day on the attack, Albertson had a personal-best showing at the net defensively with seven blocks, including four solo rejections. Nicolini had a hand in three of the Stags' 10 team send-backs.
To complete the scoring for the Stags, Day, Nicolini, Radulobic and Rudeen each dropped in one service ace.
Nicole Matheis led Niagara with 15 kills. Rachel Hall handed out a team-high 26 assists as a trio of setters guided the Purple Eagles to a .094 hitting percentage. Two-time MAAC Libero of the Year Rylee Hunt led all players with 42 digs.
Up next, Fairfield Volleyball will host Champions Weekend in conjunction with their Saturday, Oct. 7 visit from Quinnipiac (6-14, 5-2 MAAC). First serve from George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall is slated for 5 p.m. with all of the action set to air live on the Stags Sports Network. The Stags will recognize their nine MAAC Championship teams during the match, including the 20th anniversary of the 1997 MAAC Champions.
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