FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball kicks off a three-match Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) homestand this Wednesday evening when Marist comes to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. First serve is slated for 7 p.m., and all of the action will be broadcast by the Stags Sports Network with J.J. Duke on the call live on ESPN+.
 
Set to embark on their second straight three-match week, the Stags emerged unscathed from last week's run to improve their winning streak to 16 straight matches. Fairfield will start the week as one of six teams in the nation riding a streak of at least 16 consecutive victories.

The nearly two-month stretch of winning volleyball has the Stags at 18-4 overall and 13-0 in the MAAC. Fairfield owns a four-match lead atop the MAAC standings, with one more win needed to clinch at least a share of the 18th MAAC Regular Season Championship in program history. Two more wins would also secure top seed for the upcoming MAAC Championship, which will emanate from Alumni Hall on Nov. 22-24.
 
The Stags are coming off of a 3-0 week with victories over Siena, Iona and Manhattan. Kaylie Butts hit a scorching .653 for the week, racking up 33 kills in seven sets of work to earn Fairfield's first MAAC Player of the Week nod of the campaign.
 
After last week's trio of wins, the Stags lead the MAAC in hitting percentage (.221), opponent hitting percentage (.152), kills (13.47/set), assists (12.67/set), and service aces (1.67/set).
 
Individually, the Stags boast three of the 10 most efficient hitters in the conference: Luci Albertson (third, .366), Butts (fourth, .307) and Joelle Battles (ninth, .259). Battles also slots fourth in the MAAC with 3.00 kills per set. Manuela Nicolini tops the conference in assists with 10.92 helpers per set.
 
Defensively, Butts is fourth in the MAAC with 0.96 blocks per set (72 blocks in 75 sets) and Albertson sits in eighth with 0.89 blocks per stanza (64 blocks in 72 sets). In the back row, libero Morgan Doll leads a balanced team effort with 3.63 digs per set, good for 10th in the conference.
 
While Fairfield will be playing its fourth match in the last eight days, Marist has played only once in that span as the Red Foxes swept Siena on Nov. 1 to improve to 11-12 overall and 9-4 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes are one of four teams with four MAAC losses currently jockeying for postseason positioning, alongside Canisius, Niagara and Rider. Marist will make the crucial Western New York trip this week to challenge both the Golden Griffins and Purple Eagles.
 
Statistically, Marist is the second-ranked offense in the MAAC with a .204 team hitting percentage and slots fourth defensively with opponents hitting .194 against them. Gabby Murray heads the charge with a .370 hitting percentage – second-best in the MAAC – while Megan Fergus ranks second in the conference in quantity with 3.87 kills per set. McKinley Fox has emerged as the Red Foxes' starting setter and distributes 9.33 assists per frame.
 
On the defensive end, Sophia Theriot has held down the libero spot in her rookie campaign, placing third in the MAAC with 4.86 digs per set. The blocking corps is led by Fergus with a hand in 70 of Marist's 152 team blocks.
 
Fairfield and Marist met in the MAAC opener for both teams on Sept. 20 in Poughkeepsie, with the Stags taking a 3-0 decision by scores of 25-18, 26-24 and 25-21. Mayda Garcia led a balanced Stags attack with eight kills on .438 hitting.
 
The Stags' offense saw six players record four or more kills. Following Garcia's team-best eight finishers were Joelle Battles and Laura Seeger with six apiece. Kaylie Butts added five, while Luci Albertson and Manuela Nicolini each registered four kills. Nicolini managed the attack from the setter spot to a .200 hitting percentage, distributing 24 assists.
 
On the defensive end, Fairfield controlled the action at the net. Albertson set the pace with a career-best eight blocks, while Nicolini had a hand in six rejections and Butts and Battles were each a part of four stuffs. The Stags' 13 team blocks represent the club's highest output in a three-set match since 2001.
 
In the back row, Garcia led the effort with 13 digs. Nicolini posted eight, Julia Kallen added six and Morgan Doll chipped in from the libero spot with five. All told, the Fairfield defense limited Marist to a .150 hitting percentage.
 
The Stags were a strong presence from behind the end lines, amassing eight service aces with only one error. Nicolini accounted for three aces, with Sonja Radulovic and Maddy Jerdonek each landed two. Kallen capped the scoring with one winner.
 
Marist's Nikki DeSerpa led all players with 12 kills, while Gabby Murray had 10. Halle Carter ran the offense with 38 assists, and libero Sophia Theriot paced all players with 15 digs.
 
Including September's win, Fairfield is 43-8 against Marist since 1990, including a 35-6 advantage in MAAC regular season and postseason meetings since the Red Foxes entered the conference in 1997. Head Coach Todd Kress is 17-3 against Marist in his 10 seasons with the Stags.
 
This weekend, the Stags will close out the regular season home slate on Nov. 9-10 with visits from Rider and Saint Peter's. First serve on both days in set for 1 p.m. The Stags will honor their four-member senior class prior to the match against the Peacocks.