Fairfield University Volleyball has announced its All-Decade Team for the 2010-19 seasons. The team, which includes key members from all six of the Stags' MAAC Championships in the past decade, was determined 100% by fan voting on FairfieldStags.com.
All-Decade Team Starting Lineup
Skyler Day (2015-17) was the first back-to-back MAAC Player of the Year in program history and earned All-MAAC First Team honors in all three of her seasons with the Stags. She helped guide Fairfield to the MAAC Championship and regular season title in all three campaigns, earning All-Championship honors each season including Championship MVP laurels as a senior in 2017. Day wrapped up her three-year career ranked fifth all-time in kills (1,305), third in kills per set (3.88) and eighth in points (1,433.5). Her 497 kills in the 2016 season are fifth-most in program history and the most ever by a Stag in the rally-scoring era.
A true utility player for the Stags,
Carsen Mata (2011-14) was a standout libero and defensive specialist on back-to-back MAAC Championship teams. She then moved to setter for the 2014 campaign, earning All-MAAC Second Team honors after amassing 1,174 assists – the 10th most in Fairfield single-season history. Mata also ranks ninth in the career record books with 1,342 career digs and is just shy of the all-time top-10 with 100 career service aces.
Manuela Nicolini (2016-Pres.) has played three active seasons at Fairfield, earning MAAC Setter of the Year honors in both 2017 and 2019. She was also named the MAAC Player of the Year in 2019 to become the first player in conference history to earn multiple major awards in the same season. Nicolini is a two-time All-MAAC First Team honoree and was a 2019 AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention. She has helped lead Fairfield to the MAAC Championship and regular season title in all three of her active seasons (2016, 2017, 2019), earning MAA C hampionship MVP honors last fall after posting a triple-double in the championship match. She ranks fourth in program history with 3,052 career assists and is the most prolific blocking setter in Fairfield annals with a hand in 227 rejections.
Megan O'Sullivan (2013-16) was a three-time MAAC Champion, including back-to-back titles to cap her career in 2015 and 2016. She was tabbed for the All-MAAC First Team in both of those campaigns and was selected as MAAC Championship MVP in 2016. O'Sullivan ranks third all-time at Fairfield with 348 career blocks and slots seventh with a career hitting percentage of .284. O'Sullivan's 123 blocks in 2016 rank sixth in single-season history as the most rejections by a Stag since 2002.
The only three-time MAAC Setter of the Year in conference history,
Rachel Romansky (2010-13) was also a two-time All-First Team and a two-time MAAC Champion. Romansky ranks second in program history with a rally-scoring era record 4,552 career assists and also slots 13th with 1,132 career digs. Romansky was named to the MAAC All-Championship Team in all four of her seasons at Fairfield, capping that unprecedented achievement as the Championship MVP for Fairfield's 2013 title run.
Taylor Rudeen (2015-18) is one of the most prolific defensive players in Fairfield history, amassing 1,600 career digs (fourth all-time) in four seasons as a libero and defensive specialist. Rudeen was in the rotation for three consecutive MAAC Championship teams and was name Preseason All-MAAC as a senior in 2018. She ranked third all-time with a career average of 3.75 digs per set, and owns two of the top single-season dig totals in program lore with 504 digs in 2017 and 391 in 2018.
Megan Theiller (2014-17) began her career as the 2014 MAAC Rookie of the Year and then took the reins as the only three-year captain in program history, helping Fairfield to three straight MAAC Championships and regular season titles from 2015-17. Theiller was the MAAC Championship MVP in 2015, an All-MAAC First Team pick in 2016, and overcame a preseason injury to collect All-MAAC Second Team honors as a senior. She ranks sixth in program history with 1,288 kills and slots fifth with 3.25 kills per set. On the defensive side of the court, she is 12th all-time with 1,213 career digs and ranks ninth at 3.06 digs per set. Theiller is one of seven Stags in program history to eclipse 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
All-Decade Team Bench
Brianna Dixion (2009-12) entered the decade with momentum after being named the 2009 MAAC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-MAAC and continued to lead the Stags in the 2010s. She added All-MAAC Second Team honors in both 2010 and 2011, then claimed All-MAAC First Team recognition as a senior in 2012. Dixion helped lead Fairfield to the 2012 MAAC Championship as MVP of the postseason for the Stags' first conference title run since 2001. She ranks seventh all-time with 1,286 kills in her career and eighth with 3.05 kills per set.
Mayda Garcia (2016-19) was in the rotation for three MAAC Championship teams (2016, 2017, 2019). She was tabbed for the All-MAAC Second Team in both her junior and senior campaigns and earned a spot on the 2019 MAAC All-Championship Team as Fairfield returned to the top of the conference. In her career, she filled up the statsheet with 801 kills, 623 digs and 106 blocks.
Fairfield's all-time leader with 1,947 career digs,
Kara Reis (2009-12) also ranks 10th in program history with 124 career service aces. A member of the 2011 MAAC All-Championship Team and a 2012 MAAC Champion, Reis also established a pair of single-season records in 2012 with 591 digs and 5.37 digs per set.
Caitlin Stapleton (2011-14) was the 2011 MAAC Rookie of the Year, also earning All-MAAC Second Team honors in that season, to kick off a decorated Fairfield career. She was tabbed for the All-MAAC First Team in 2012 and 2014 and earned a spot on a pair of MAAC All-Championship teams. Stapleton was a two-time MAAC Champion in 2012 and 2013. She ranks 11th in program history with 1,146 career kills and eighth in blocks with a hand in 276 total send-backs.