FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Joelle Battles hit a scorching .640 en route to 19 kills to lead Fairfield University Volleyball to a 3-1 win over visiting Northeastern on Friday night on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. The Stags also got 13 kills from Laura Seeger and 10 finishers by Luci Albertson in the four-set win over the CAA foe.
 
With the win, Fairfield improves to 3-4 while the Huskies even their record at 4-4. The Stags took the match by set scores of 25-17, 22-25, 25-22 and 25-15.
 
Battles' career-high 19 kills came on just 25 swings with only three errors. The last Stag to hit .640 or better with at least 19 kills was Jazmin Pa'akaula, who had 20 finishers on .643 hitting in a MAAC win at Niagara on Oct. 22, 2006.
 
"Jo led the way for us tonight. Those are unbelievable numbers for anybody, let alone a freshman playing in her first home match," said Head Coach Todd Kress.
 
In addition to Battles' big night, Seeger's 13 kills included six in the deciding fourth frame as the Stags put the match away. Albertson's 10 from the middle came on .500 hitting. Fairfield also got seven kills apiece from Kaylie Butts and Mayda Garcia with Manuela Nicolini and Nya Jones each chipping in with one finisher. Jones' kill was the first of her collegiate career.
 
Nicolini engineered the attack from the setter spot, distributing 48 assists. The senior also recorded 10 kills to cap her fifth double-double this season.
 
Leading the way in the back row was Jamie Calandro with 11 digs as the Stags' libero. Julia Kallen added eight digs and Morgan Doll notched seven. At the net, Fairfield racked up 10 team blocks. Butts had a piece of six rejections, with Albertson getting a hand on four send-backs and the duo of Nicolni and Seeger each playing a part in three stuffs. In total, the defensive effort limited Northeastern to .131 hitting.
 
To round out the Fairfield scoring, Nicolini landed three of the Stags' nine service aces. Kallen, Garcia, Doll, Calandro, Seeger, and Maddy Jerdonek each served up one. All told, 11 different Stags were responsible for at least one point in the victory.
 
Northeastern, which swept the Seton Hall Classic last weekend, was led by nine kills on .615 hitting from Nailah Jenkins. Liz Carroll and Samantha Shupe shared setting duties and finished with 18 and 14 assists, respectively. Libero Clare Lund led all players with 12 digs, and Jenkins had a team-best four blocks for the Huskies.
 
"I think we're in a good headspace right now. We let our foot off the gas a little bit in the second set, but we did a good job of resetting after that," Kress noted. "Hopefully the way we finished, particularly in the fourth set, is what we carry over into tomorrow against NJIT."
 
The Stags will host the Highlanders tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. at Alumni Hall. NJIT is 1-8 after a 3-0 loss at Sacred Heart this evening. Fairfield completes its weekend across town against those same Pioneers on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the final tune-up prior to the start of MAAC play next weekend.