FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball erased deficits in each of the first two sets of Sunday's meeting with Iona, then pulled away with a decisive third-set win to sweep the defending MAAC Champions, 3-0. The Stags took the victory on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall by set scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-10.
 
The triumph pushes the Stags' winning streak to eight in a row as Fairfield improves to 10-4 overall and stays unbeaten in the MAAC at 5-0. The Stags and Canisius (8-9, 5-0 MAAC), who will meet for the first time this fall on Oct. 20 at Alumni Hall, are the last two conference teams with unblemished league records. Iona falls to 1-15 on the year with a 1-5 MAAC tally.
 
"My take on today would be that it's not how you start, it's how you finish," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "I thought we came out flat in terms of our sense of urgency and weren't clicking on all cylinders. But we cleaned up some things in terms of our serve-receive and ball handling, and I really liked the way we finished off the second set and carried that through the rest of the match."

Fairfield was led today by the fourth consecutive double-double from Mayda Garcia. Garcia posted a match-best 12 kills on .400 hitting from the outside and registered 10 digs. Joelle Battles contributed nine kills on the right side and Kaylie Butts sent home eight at a .538 clip from the middle. Luci Albertson and Laura Seeger each chipped in two kills for the Stags.
 
Manuela Nicolini ran the attack with 28 assists to go along with three kills of her own and finished off a double-double with 13 digs.
 
Morgan Doll led all players in the back row with 14 digs from the libero spot to join Nicolini and Garcia in double figures. At the net, Kaylie Butts bolstered her MAAC-leading block total with a hand in five rejections to today. Nicolini also got a piece of three send-backs as Fairfield posted its best defensive effort of the season, limiting the Gaels to an .019 hitting percentage.
 
Jamie Calandro contributed to the scoring from the end line with a career-high four service aces. Julia Kallen served up one winner to cap the Fairfield onslaught.
 
Iona was led by eight kills on .269 hitting from Jamie Smith, who added six digs, nine assists and four service aces. Samantha Juran distributed 10 assists for the Gaels, and Jessica Paolucci had a team-best 11 digs at libero.
 
Next weekend, the MAAC slate brings the Stags to Jersey to meet Saint Peter's and Rider on Oct. 12-13. Action returns to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall on the following weekend as Fairfield hosts Niagara and Canisius.