POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Fairfield University Volleyball team limited the Marist Red Foxes to a .000 hitting percentage over the first two sets and completed the sweep with three-straight kills in the third, to improve to 8-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Stags took the match with scores of 25-12, 25-12, 28-26, in winning their 38th-consecutive conference match.
 
"We played solid team defense the first two sets to keep the pressure on Marist," Head Coach Todd Kress said. "I thought Marist responded well in the third set and it took us a bit to step up to their intensity. Overall, it's a solid effort on the road but as a team we need to be able to answer much quicker when teams push us."
 
The Stags (13-6, 8-0 MAAC) dominated the first two sets, holding Marist to 16 combined kills and 16 attack errors. On the other side of the floor, the Stags hit a combined .315 during the first two stanzas with 22 kills on just five errors.
 
In the closest frame, the Stags came back from a 23-20 deficit and fought off match point with the Red Foxes leading 26-25. Manuela Nicolini's kill would tie the set at 26-26 and back-to-back kills from Skyler Day would clinch the win.
 
The defense was the story of the match as the Stags recorded 58 digs, led by 18 from Megan Theiller and 16 from Taylor Rudeen. Also on the defensive side, the Stags tallied 12 blocks, with three coming from Luci Albertson, Kaitlyn Fisher, and Nicolini. Fairfield also did not allow a service ace by the Red Foxes, while recording six aces themselves.
 
Nicolini spread the offense with seven different Stags recording a kill, led by a game-high 11 from Day. The sophomore also tallied eight digs while recording match-highs in assists (26) and hitting percentage (.833, 5-0-6).
 
The Stags are back in action tomorrow when they head to Loudonville, N.Y., for a match against Siena at 1pm.