FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Rookie middles Kaylie Butts and Luci Albertson combined for 18 kills on 23 errorless swings to power Fairfield University Volleyball past visiting Quinnipiac in straight sets (25-23, 25-12, 25-14) on Saturday afternoon on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. As a unit, the Stags hit a season-best .418 in dispatching the visiting Bobcats.
 
With their eighth consecutive win, the Stags improve to 12-6 overall and 7-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Quinnipiac falls to 6-16 on the year with a 5-4 MAAC tally.
 
Fueling the Stags' .418 hitting percentage – the best single-match mark by a MAAC team this fall – Butts posted 11 kills on 13 swings (.846) and Albertson notched seven kills on 10 swings (.700). Each rookie also had a hand in three of the Stags' six blocks.
 
Fairfield's attack also featured 12 kills from reigning MAAC Player of the Week Skyler Day on .345 hitting. Kaitlyn Fisher added six kills, Mayda Garcia slammed home five and Sonja Radulovic landed one from the back row. Manuela Nicolini dumped over two kills of her own in addition to distributing 35 assists to manage the offense.
 
"I thought our freshmen played lights out," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "They've been putting in the work, and it showed today as they both put up big numbers. As a team we were low error, and a lot of that came from what our middles did to open up the net and give Manuela options pin-to-pin to distribute the ball."
 
Fairfield's defensive effort was led by 15 digs from Taylor Rudeen out of the libero spot, with Nicolini adding 11 to round out a double-double. Day just missed her own double-double, as she added nine from the back row, and Megan Theiller contributed eight digs. Nicolini played a part in four blocks to lead the Stags at the net.
 
Quinnipiac was led by a match-best 13 kills from Natalie Alechko, with 11 finishers coming off the swing of Morgan Sherwin. Maria Pansari dished out 27 assists while running the Bobcats' attack to a .096 clip. Haley Anderson led the defense with eight digs and served up three aces for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats are currently without three starters due to injury, including 2016 First Team All-MAAC honoree Jen Coffey.
 
"I thought Quinnipiac played a great first set with some key starters out, especially defensively, and we were a little flat in that area," said Kress. "Eventually we picked it up and it was good to see us match their defensive intensity. This week, we will continue to focus on our defense leading up to Marist and Siena next weekend."
 
First serve in both ends of the Stags' trips to Marist (Oct. 14) and Siena (Oct. 15) is set for 1 p.m. Action returns to Alumni Hall the following weekend as Fairfield begins the second round of MAAC play with visits from Manhattan and Iona on Oct. 21-22.