FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Led by a trio of seniors playing in their final regular season home match, Fairfield University Volleyball swept visiting Canisius, 3-0, on Senior Day at George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall on Sunday afternoon. The Stags' 19th straight win, which came by set scores of 25-22, 25-17 and 25-21, capped a second consecutive 18-0 run through the MAAC regular season slate.
 
Fairfield (23-6, 18-0 MAAC) is the only program to have posted an 18-0 mark in the MAAC since the conference adopted the home-and-home format in 2006. The Stags accomplished the feat in 2006, 2016 and now 2017. In addition, Fairfield's active stretch of 49 consecutive wins over MAAC opponents (including postseason and non-conference meetings) ties the Stags' run of 49 straight from 1997-2001. It is also the longest active winning streak against conference opponents in the nation.
 
"First of all, I didn't think it could be done this year. This conference is very deep top to bottom, and we were beat up at the beginning of the season with Theiller and Syd (Buckley) out for two months and Skyler out or playing at less than 100 percent for a month," said Head Coach Todd Kress of his team's second consecutive 18-0 MAAC campaign. "I give this team a ton of credit. There's still a lot of volleyball to be played but, no matter what happens the rest of the way, no one can take away what this team has done in back-to-back regular seasons."
 
As they have been throughout their careers, the Stags' three seniors – Megan Theiller, Skyler Day and Sydney Buckley – were major factors in today's victory. Theiller led all players with 19 kills on .333 hitting and also had the match high in digs with 17 to complete her fifth double-double of the season. Day notched 14 kills – cementing her place as the MAAC leader in kills at the end of the regular season – and posted eight digs. Buckley distributed a match-high 27 assists running the attack to a .255 hitting percentage.
 
"I don't know what else I can say about how much three student-athletes can mean to a program," Kress said of his senior class. "A tradition has already been established in this program, but they – along with some great teammates – have taken it to another level."
 
Adding to the attack today were Sydney Williams and Kaitlyn Fisher with six kills apiece, while Nora Quinn landed a pair. Manuela Nicolini shared setting duties with Buckley and doled out 14 assists while dumping over one kill of her own.
 
Fairfield's seniors also accounted for the Stags' six points from behind the service line as Day landed four aces and Theiller dropped in a pair of winners.
 
In addition to Theiller's 17 digs, Taylor Rudeen helped manage Fairfield's passing with 15 digs. At the net, Williams had a hand in four of the Stags' seven blocks, and Nicolini got a piece of three rejections. The Fairfield defensive effort limited Canisius to a .158 hitting percentage.
 
Canisius (10-18, 8-10 MAAC) was led in its season finale by eight kills on .316 hitting from Sara Wesley. Cassidy Ceriani had 22 assists running the offense, and libero Sofia Lopez Acosta had a team-leading 15 digs.
 
Alumni Hall will host the 2017 MAAC Championship from Nov. 17-19. As the top seed in the tournament, the Stags will begin their postseason on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. in the semifinal round against either Marist or Rider, who will tangle on Friday at 8 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Niagara awaits the winner of Friday's 5 p.m. meeting between Iona and Quinnipiac.
 
"There are some teams coming here next weekend that are playing at a very high level right now," noted Kress. "We need to have a great week of preparation to be ready to go."