BALTIMORE – Fairfield University Volleyball split a pair of contests on opening day of the 2019 season today in Baltimore. The Stags fell to Temple, 3-0, before taking a 3-2 decision over host UMBC on Day 1 of the UMBC Invitational.
"I was proud of our execution and focus in the fifth set," said Head Coach
Todd Kress. "After a fourth set where we played a lot of loose points, it was great to see the team respond like that down the stretch to earn our first win of the year."
Fairfield (1-1) will play Lafayette (0-2) tomorrow at 11 a.m. to conclude the action on opening weekend.
Temple 3, Stags 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-13)
Box Score
Laura Seeger led the Stags in their season opener, sending home nine kills against Temple.
Joelle Battles added seven finishers in her first action as a Stag, and
Kaylie Butts chipped in with six from the middle.
Manuela Nicolini returned to the court after missing the entirety of 2018 due to injury and managed the offense with 25 assists.
Debuting rookie
Morgan Doll paced the back row with eight digs, while
Julia Kallen added seven and Nicolini notched six. At the net,
Luci Albertson had in all five Fairfield blocks, including a solo send-back. Seeger was a part of two rejections.
Jamie Calandro and
Maddy Jerdonek each added a point from behind the service line, dropping in one ace apiece.
Gem Grimshaw led the Temple attack with nine kills on .296 hitting with Peyton Boyd adding eight kills at a .294 clip. Tyler Lindren doled out 23 assists for the Owls, and Averi Salvador picked up a match-best 17 digs. Temple racked up nine team blocks in the match, including six from Kayla Spells.
Stags 3, UMBC 2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 15-12)
Box Score
Laura Seeger headed the attack once again, this time slamming home a career-best 20 kills on .404 hitting, as Fairfield took a five-set decision from the host Retrievers.
Joelle Battles added 15 kills and
Julia Kallen was just shy of a double-double with nine kills and nine digs.
Sonja Radulovic had eight kills on 19 errorless swings to post a .421 clip.
Manuela Nicolini did complete a double-double from the setter spot, distributing 56 assists and notching 13 digs.
Morgan Doll led all Stags defensively with a match-high 17 digs. Seeger and
Kaylie Butts led the defense up front with five blocks apiece, and
Luci Albertson was a part of four rejections.
Jamie Calandro chipped in to the scoring efforts with three service aces, while Nicolini and Doll each landed one.
UMBC was led by 14 kills from Carmen Freeman and 12 finishers apiece by Kamani Conteh and Franchesca Reed. Taylor Dunn managed the offense with 32 assists.
