MINNEAPOLIS – Fairfield University Volleyball concluded its the 2019 season on Friday evening with a 3-0 loss at #7 Minnesota in the NCAA Championship First Round in Minneapolis. The Stags end their MAAC Championship campaign with a record of 24-6.
 
"I'm very proud of what we accomplished this year, and it's always a privilege to get back to the NCAA Tournament and play in a venue like this," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "I thought we had the opportunity to compete, but we didn't play our best tonight. Minnesota obviously has an opportunity to go deep in the field this year, so congratulations to them."
 
Fairfield's NCAA postseason trip was their conference-record 11th in program history and fourth in the last five seasons. The Stags' 24-6 record also marked their fourth campaign with a winning percentage of .800 or better, three of which have come during Kress' s tenure on the sidelines.
 
In today's match, Fairfield was led by seven kills for Mayda Garcia in her collegiate finale. Garcia finishes her career with 801 kills – the 17th player to top 800 finishers in her career. Julia Kallen added four kills, the trio of Luci Albertson, Joelle Battles and Kaylie Butts had three apiece, and Manuela Nicolini dumped over two from the setter spot.
 
Nicolini, who was the MAAC Player and Setter of the Year and the MAAC Championship MVP, dished out 18 assists to finish the season with 1,178 assists – ninth most in Fairfield single-season history. Through three campaigns, she is fourth on the Stags' career assist list with 3,042.
 
Defensively, Morgan Doll tied Fairfield's single-match record for an NCAA postseason match with 14 digs. Sonja Radulovic picked up 10 digs and Garcia added seven.
 
One of Fairfield's strengths was its serving game, landing six aces on the Gophers. Garcia and Nicolini each served up a pair, with Doll and Albertson adding one apiece to round out the Fairfield scoring.
 
Minnesota – the #7 national seed and ranked #7 by the AVCA this week – hit a scorching .434 led by 13 kills on .519 hitting from Adanna Rollins. Kylie Miller doled out 32 assists for the Golden Gophers and capped a double-double with 11 digs. Taylor Morgan led the effort at the net with a hand in five of Minnesota's 10 team blocks.
 
An early five-point run in the opening frame, which included a pair of Nicolini aces, stakesdthe Stags to a fast 5-2 advantage. The Golden Gophers, however, responded with a 5-0 run followed by a 4-0 stretch, inducing a Fairfield timeout at 11-7 in the set. That second run would continue through the stoppage, putting Minnesota on top 13-7 before Fairfield would score again. The Stags added kills from Battles, Kallen and Garcia in the set before the Gophers closed it out by a count of 25-13.
 
Another strong start in the second set saw Fairfield win four of the first six rallies, scoring on two Garcia kills and an ace from Doll during the stretch. The Stags lead grew as large as three points at 10-7, but the Gophers again had an answer with a 5-0 spurt to regain the edge at 12-10. Minnesota's run grew to seven straight to widen the gap to 15-10 before Butts notched a kill and Nicolini went over on two to pull the Stags back within three at 16-13. At that point, the Gophers capped the set on a 9-1 run, taking a 25-14 decision and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
Minnesota carried its momentum into the third frame, racing out to an 8-3 lead. The Stags would not allow a prolonged run for the remainder of the set, but could not put together a rally of their own as the Gophers tallied a 25-11 final to cap the 3-0 sweep.
 
Fairfield's senior class of Jamie Calandro, Garcia, Nicolini and Radulovic played in its third NCAA Championship in the last four seasons. In addition to their 11th MAAC Championship, the Stags also earned their 18th MAAC Regular Season Championship since 1996.