FAIRFIELD, Conn. – There comes a time in every season when a young team finds its identity and begins to believe in itself. It's difficult for a coach to foster that moment and even tougher to actually predict when it will happen.

                Head Coach Todd Kress may have witnessed that moment this afternoon as the Fairfield University volleyball team won its fourth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) match with a 3-1 decision over Iona College, a team that Coach Kress identifies as one that will could contend for the conference championship this season.

                "This match could have gone either way," Coach Kress said. "Iona could just as easily have won. Coming into today, Iona was playing some of the best volleyball in the conference and they showed that today. It's a result that continues to build confidence for our team and absolutely shows that our players are starting to believe that they can be something great. Now that belief is translating into our performance."

                Performance can be based on what you do but can also be based on what you don't do. Today, the Stags should be lauded for what they did not do. One of the team's goals is to keep errors under eight per set with the understanding that low number of errors can be the difference in close results.

                In the first set, Fairfield posted a 26-24 win and committed only four errors. The second set also met that team goal by registering just three errors in its 25-22 victory. The third set saw the Stags post a match-high 12 errors which resulted in a 25-23 loss before winning the match with just seven errors in set four.

                "We have been a very high error team in the previous two or three weeks," Coach Kress said. "In the first two sets, we probably don't win if our error total is above eight. The third set was high error and we lost but came back with a low error set to close out the match."

                Fairfield took an early lead in the first set, holding a 9-5 edge after Mayda Garcia laid down a kill. Iona battled back and eventually took a three-point lead at 14-11. But as Coach Kress pointed out, the team reined in its error total and did not commit a miscue from that point of the set which allowed the Stags to rally and win the opening set.

                The second set belonged to Fairfield nearly from the outset, as the home team erased a 3-0 deficit at the start to take the lead for good at 5-4 after stringing together a 5-1 run, most of which came under the serve of Taylor Rudeen. The Stags lead reached as many as five points at 15-10 before they settled for another three-point win at 25-22.

                The Gaels managed to piece together a strong third set and led throughout most of the set en route to its 25-23 win which kept the match alive. Fairfield's first and only lead came after an Iona attack error broke a 22-22 tie and pushed the Stags in front. A kill by Claire Archibald tied the game for Iona and a pair of attack errors closed out the game to send Iona to its only set win.

                The final set saw eight tied scores and three lead changes as Fairfield fought to close out the match while Iona did its best to prolong the afternoon. The Stags trailed early, the last deficit coming at 8-7 before Fairfield rallied for four straight points to secure an 11-8 advantage. The lead grew to as many as five points before Fairfield closed the match with a 25-22 win in set four.

                Garcia played at a premium this afternoon, leading all student-athletes with 21 kills and a .254 hitting percentage. The junior also added 13 digs and three block assists in her all-around effort. Sonja Radulovic closed out a great weekend with 15 kills along with three digs and a pair of service aces.

                "Mayda has shouldered a lot for us over the last three weeks," Coach Kress said. "She won player of the week the last two weeks, putting up big points when we needed her. Sonja has done a great job and took some really big swings for us today as well."

                The Stags will now concentrate on its upcoming road match with Marist College on Wednesday night before returning home for an intrastate match up with Quinnipiac University on September 29 at Alumni Hall. Both matches are scheduled for a 7 pm start.