FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball will conclude the regular season with the longest road trip of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) slate, heading to Western New York to meet Canisius and Niagara on Nov. 16-17. First serve in both contests is slated for 1 p.m.
 
The Stags are coming off of a three-win week to improve to 21-4 overall and 16-0 in the MAAC. Fairfield has locked up their 18th MAAC Regular Season Championship and top seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship, which will emanate from Alumni Hall on Nov. 22-24. The Stags are in search of their 20th consecutive win, which would mark the sixth 20-match winning streak in program history.
 
Fairfield's active 19-match streak is one of the five longest stretches in Division I entering Thursday evening's national slate of matches. Colorado State is the current standard bearer, riding a 23-match win streak to a 24-1 overall record and a #12 national ranking.
 
With last week's wins over Marist, Rider and Saint Peter's, the Stags completed the home portion of the MAAC slate at 9-0 – the eighth time they have accomplished the feat since the MAAC began its 18-match slate in 2006. Two wins this weekend would cement the fourth 18-0 regular season in conference history, all of which have been achieved by Fairfield (2006, 2016, 2017).
 
Manuela Nicolini led the Stags last week and was recognized for her performance as the MAAC Player of the Week. As a distributor, Nicolini had the Fairfield attack running on all cylinders. She dished out 11.82 assists per set as the Stags hit .245 as a team in 11 sets of action. Individually, five Fairfield hitters averaged better than 1.70 kills per frame for the week and four Stags hit better than .270 for the week.
 
Nicolini also starred on the defensive end, posting a double-double in all three matches on the heels of a team-leading 3.55 digs per set for the week. At the net, she had a hand in nine Fairfield blocks and contributed to the scoring by serving up eight aces and dumping over two kills of her own.
 
On the season, Nicolini leads the MAAC and ranks 25th in the nation with 11.03 assists per set. She also slots third in conference with 38 service aces and is running the Stags to a league-best .223 team hitting percentage.
 
Other statistical leaders for the Stags include Joelle Battles, who ranks fourth in the conference with 3.01 kills per set and ranks 10th in the MAAC – first among rookies and among non-middle hitters – with a .265 hitting percentage.
 
Also on the hitting percentage ledger, Luci Albertson (.355) and Kaylie Butts (.316) rank fourth and fifth respectively. Both middles are also among the MAAC leaders in blocks, with Butts slotted second with 1.02 rejections per frame and Albertson sitting in eighth at 0.90 blocks per stanza.
 
While the Stags have locked up the top seed in the MAAC Championship, playoff positioning will still be at the forefront of Fairfield's two weekend matchups. Canisius (13-15, 10-6 MAAC) and Niagara (12-14, 11-5 MAAC) are two of the four teams – along with Marist and Rider – in contention for the coveted second seed and bye into the semifinal round of next weekend's tournament. Niagara has the only clear-cut path to the second seed, as the Purple Eagles would clinch the spot with a sweep of Quinnipiac and Fairfield, with the remaining three teams all reliant upon results around the league as well as their own success on the conference's final weekend of regular season action.