FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball will be in action on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall for the first time in 2018 with a Wednesday evening visit from crosstown foe Sacred Heart. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. and all of the action will be streamed by the Stags Sports Network on Facebook Live. Admission is free for all fans to all Fairfield Volleyball regular season home matches.
Promotions & Events
Town of Fairfield Appreciation Night: All town of Fairfield residents will receive free entry into a drawing to win tickets to select Fairfield Men's and Women's Basketball games
Lil' Stags Club Registration: All Stags fans entering eighth grade or younger in the fall of 2018 can register for the Lil' Stags Club ($10 – cash or card)
Schedule Poster Giveaway: The first 250 fans will receive a free Fairfield Volleyball schedule poster
Last Time Out
The Stags most recently defeated Delaware State, 3-0, on Saturday evening to cap a 1-2 opening weekend at the Tropical Smoothie Invitational. Earlier in the weekend, Fairfield was upended in straight sets by the host James Madison Dukes and the Missouri Tigers.
Newcomers accounted for more than 60 percent of the Stags' kills over the weekend, led by
Laura Seeger with 3.86 finishers per ser. Seeger hit .481 for the weekend en route to earning All-Tournament Team recognition. Fellow rookies
Emily Schillinger and
Julia Kallen added 1.86 and 1.75 kills per set, respectively.
A first-year Stag also managed the offense as
Alexis Rich distributed 7.78 assists per frame to go along with 2.33 digs per set. Rich capped her weekend with 30 assists and 11 digs – her first career double-double – in the win over Delaware State.
One veteran presence that resumed her post from 2017 is
Taylor Rudeen, who served as the Stags' libero to the tune of a team-high 3.56 digs per set last weekend. In the process, the senior moved past Rachel Romansky '14 and into 12th all-time on Fairfield's career chart with 1,141 digs to her credit.
Scouting Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart Pioneers will suit up at Alumni Hall with a record of 1-1. The Pioneers, who were tabbed for fifth in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Poll on the heels of a 12-15 campaign in 2017, swept Providence but fell to host Boston College, 3-1, last weekend on Chestnut Hill.
Leading the roster of Sacred Heart returners are Liisel Nelis, who leads the Pioneers with 3.43 kills per frame, and All-NEC Second Team pick Makayla Dole, who averaged 2.25 kills per set on .391 hitting last weekend. Rookie setter Sarah Ciszek ran the attack from the setter spot and finished with 7.71 assists per set against the Friars and Eagles.
Sacred Heart has won the last two meetings in the all-time series, trimming the Fairfield lead to 12-6 in the crosstown clash. The clubs have met in five of the last six seasons – only eluding each other in 2014 – with the Stags holding a 3-2 edge over that span. Including his prior tenure at the helm from 1995-98, Head Coach
Todd Kress is 2-2 all-time against Sacred Heart.
Up Next
Wednesday night's match starts a run of in-state contests for the Stags. Fairfield will travel to New Haven to challenge perennial Ivy League contender Yale on Friday at 7 p.m. then challenges Hartford (at Quinnipiac) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Action returns to Alumni Hall the following weekend for the Fairfield Invitational on Sept. 7-8. The Stags will meet Michigan State, Harvard and Northeastern as a part of the eight-match, five-team tournament.
