QUEENS, N.Y. – Fairfield University Volleyball will enter Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action on a high note after defeating St. John's, 3-1, on Tuesday evening in Queens. The Stags took tonight's match by scores of 12-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22 to top the Big East Conference's Red Storm for the second consecutive season.
 
With the win, Fairfield has defeated a Big East team (St. John's) and an Atlantic Coast Conference team (Boston College) in the same season for the first time since 2000 (Clemson, West Virginia, UConn). Prior to tonight, the Stags had never won true road matches against representatives of both conferences in the same campaign.
 
"Tonight was a gutty team win," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "We started the match flat and didn't look prepared to compete. However, I'm proud of our resiliency and how we executed down the stretch in the last three sets to pull out a nice road win in a Big East gym."
 
The Stags will emerge from one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in program history with a mark of 5-6. Including tonight, Fairfield has played five matches against teams from major conferences and also competed in four contests against 2016 NCAA postseason qualifiers to prepare for the upcoming MAAC slate.
 
In tonight's action at Carnesecca Arena, the Stags were led by double-doubles from Skyler Day and Manuela Nicolini. Day sent home 10 kills with 11 digs, while Nicolini distributed 36 assists in addition to 11 digs of her own. Nicolini also contributed to the attack with five kills on five swings.
 
Mayda Garcia paced the attack with 13 kills, and Kaitlyn Fisher posted nine from the right side. Kaylie Butts added eight kills, and fellow freshman Luci Albertston rounded out the offense with three finishers.
 
Defensively, the Stags registered a season-best 14 blocks. Albertson played a role in a team-leading six send-backs, while Fisher and Butts each had a hand in five rejections. Taylor Rudeen headed the effort in the back row with 12 digs from the libero spot and also doled out seven assists.
 
To cap Fairfield's scoring, Albertson, Day and Rudeen each landed one service ace.
 
St. John's (7-4) was led by a match-high 14 kills from Julia Cast. First Team All-Big East setter Erica Di Maulo handed out 34 assists for the Red Storm and capped a double-double with 13 digs. St. John's matched the Stags with 14 blocks, led by eight from Danisha Moss.
 
The Stags' defense of their back-to-back MAAC Championships begins this weekend, Sept. 16-17, with trips to Iona and Manhattan. Action returns to Alumni Hall the following weekend for a visit from MAAC Volleyball's New Jersey contingent – Rider and Saint Peter's – on Sept. 23-24.
 
"We now have three days to prepare and pay attention to detail for the beginning of conference play," said Kress, a five-time MAAC Coach of the Year. "Based on results so far, the MAAC will be solid from top to bottom and we simply must stay focused on getting better in every repetition in practice."