FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The momentum from a dominant first set carried through the next two frames as Fairfield University Volleyball swept visiting Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon at the RecPlex. The Stags toppled their in-state MAAC rival by scores of 25-12, 25-18 and 25-18.
With the sweep, Fairfield stays unbeaten at 5-0 in the MAAC and moves to 10-6 overall. The Stags have won six straight matches and nine of their last 10 contests. Quinnipiac falls to 3-12 on the season with a 2-4 league tally.
"We're in-state rivals, we respect each other and we enjoy playing against each other. There's always quality volleyball played when we get together," said Head Coach
Todd Kress. "We were dominant in the first set, but they made some adjustments and made it tighter the next two sets."
"Overall I was happy with how we played and how, after a few spots when we gave up three or four points in a row, we were able to mentally refocus and dial in to finish off those final two sets," Kress added.
The Stags hit at a scorching .406 clip in the first set – while keeping Quinnipiac in the negative at -.067 – en route to a .306 hitting percentage for the match.
Manuela Nicolini engineered that potent attack, handing out 43 assists. The three-time MAAC Setter of the Year also completed a double-double with 13 digs, had a hand in five blocks, and served up the lone ace of the match.
"A few weeks ago, Manuela was not playing her best volleyball and she would be the first to tell you that. But over the last couple of weeks, I've seen a different level out of her that I haven't seen in all six of her years in the program," said Kress of his graduate student setter. "That position sometimes goes unnoticed, but there's no way that what she is doing on the court right now can go unnoticed."
A pair of outside hitters were Nicolini's top targets on the day, led by 19 kills on .395 hitting from the MAAC leader in kills,
KJ Johnson.
Mikayla Haut added 11 kills from the pins, swinging at a .346 percentage.
Emily Schillinger continued to produce in her new-found role in the middle. The Senior had 10 kills on .333 hitting today along with four blocks on the defensive side of the net.
"Emily has bought into the idea of moving to the middle to help the team, and she certainly is helping the team. She does a nice job of reading where to be on the block, she's hitting well from that spot – there's just something about her presence as a senior middle that serve as an anchor for us," noted Kress.
Rounding out the attack,
Luci Albertson posted six kills,
Laura Seeger had three, and
Joelle Battles had one kill on three swings in her one set of work.
Defensively, Nicolini and Albertson paced a 10-block performance, playing a part in five rejections apiece. Johnson added three blocks and Seeger had two, including a solo sendbacks.
Kyla Berg anchored the back row with a match-leading 22 digs. In addition to Nicolini's 13, Johnson finished off a double-double with 11 digs, and
Julia Kallen added eight. The Stags also did not give up a service ace to the Bobcats, who are averaging 1.50 winners per frame on the year.
"Kyla has been great from the libero spot with her demeanor on the court as captain of the defense. She's very vocal, she doesn't miss defensive assignments, she doesn't let her teammates miss defensive assignments," said Kress. "Quinnipiac is one of the best serving teams in our league, so we worked on serve-receive a lot this week. We could have passed a little better overall, but it's a positive to not hand them any free points from the end line."
Up next, the Stags will play their next three MAAC contests away from the RecPlex. First up, Fairfield heads to New Jersey for return meetings with Saint Peter's and Rider on Oct. 9-10 followed by a Wednesday, Oct. 13 tilt at Siena.
Action returns to campus the following weekend, Oct. 16-17, as the Stag host Manhattan and Iona in league action.
The Stags are the last remaining unbeaten in the MAAC, with Rider behind them at 4-1 and every other team tabbed with two of more conference losses.
