FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A stretch of six Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) matches in just 12 days begins Wednesday for Fairfield University Volleyball as Siena comes to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. First serve between the first-place Stags and the visiting Saints is slated for 7 p.m.
The Stags most recently swept Quinnipiac on Saturday in Hamden to improve to 10-0 in the MAAC. Overall, Fairfield boasts a 13-match winning streak to stand at 15-4 overall. The victory over the Bobcats was also the 450th career win for Head Coach
Todd Kress. A program-record 216 of his triumphs came in his two tenures as the leader of the Stags in 10 total seasons at the helm from 1995-98 and 2014-present.
Following this weekend's slate of MAAC action, the Stags lead the conference in hitting percentage (.219), kills (13.28/set), assists (12.54/set), aces (1.76/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.153). Fairfield is second in the MAAC in blocks (2.09/set) and digs (16.47/set).
Individually, Fairfield's balanced attack features three Stags among the top 10 in hitting percentage, led by
Luci Albertson's third-place mark of .352. Also in the middle,
Kaylie Butts adds a .258 mark and
Joelle Battles is swinging from the right side at a .251 clip. Battles also leads the Stags in quantity on offense, ranking fifth in the MAAC with 2.95 kills per set.
Laura Seeger is right behind her on the leaderboard with 2.91 finishers per frame.
The attack is piloted by setter
Manuela Nicolini, who tops with the MAAC with 10.70 assists per set.
On the defensive end, Butts ranks third in the conference with 67 blocks in 68 sets, and Albertson slots fifth with 58 rejections in 61 sets of work. In the back row, libero
Morgan Doll is 10th in the conference with a team-leading 3.57 digs per stanza.
After most recently splitting a home MAAC weekend with a 3-1 win over Saint Peter's and a 3-1 loss to Rider, the Siena Saints will come to Alumni Hall with a record of 9-13 overall and 4-7 in conference play. Siena ranks fifth in the MAAC offensively with a .186 hitting percentage and slots sixth defensively with opponents hitting .209 against them.
Nicole Deobler has led the Siena offense with 2.95 kills per set, though the junior has not played in the Saints' last five matches. Ally-Reese Williams has guided the attack as of late, posting 2.74 kills per frame this season. Maddy Dunigan is Siena's most efficient hitter, swinging at a .241 rate en route to 1.76 kills per set.
Maria Llinas manages the Siena offense, doling out 9.33 assists per set. On the defensive end, Gracie Halley paces the back row with 2.87 digs per stanza. Dunigan and Abby Huffman are a formidable duo up front, playing a part in 71 and 70 blocks, respectively, as the Saints have amassed 166 team send-backs.
Fairfield won last month's meeting in Loudonville, 3-1. Siena is the only MAAC team to date to take a frame from the 10-0 Stags. In that encounter,
Mayda Garcia led four Stags to reach double-digit kills with 13 finishers to go along with a team-high 19 digs.
Julia Kallen added 10 kills and 11 digs, with Battles notching 11 kills and Butts posting 10.
The Saints were led by 10 kills apiece from Williams and Deobler. Llinas dished out 35 assists for Siena, and Sol Guidarelli led all players with 22 digs.
The Sept. 22 win extended Fairfield's streak to 11 consecutive victories over the Saints. The Stags are 42-18 in the all-time series since 1987, and
Todd Kress is 15-4 against Siena in his career.
The Stags' rapid-fire stretch of matches continues in New York this weekend with meetings at Iona on Friday, Nov. 1 and Manhattan on Sunday, Nov. 3.
