FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball was on the short side of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference outing for the first time this fall, dropping a 3-2 decision to visiting Canisius on Sunday at the RecPlex. The Stags were led by a double-double from Mikayla Haut, who set a pair of new career highs with 14 kills and 22 digs.
 
Despite the end of their 13-match winning streak, the Stags remain in first place in the MAAC with a 12-1 conference mark as a part of a 17-7 overall tally. Canisius improves to 7-14 on the season and 7-5 in the MAAC.
 
Today's match capped a stretch of three matches in four days and six matches in 12 days for Fairfield. The Stags played back-to-back five-set outings to complete the marathon run, edging Niagara yesterday before falling to the Golden Griffs this afternoon.
 
"This was a tough six-match stretch, and we got through it at 5-1," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "Of course I'd rather be 6-0, but 5-1 is going to have to do, and I don't know what anybody else in the conference would have done during that stretch. So we'll have to take 5-1 and get better over the next couple weeks leading up to the MAAC Tournament."
 
In addition to Haut's double-double from the outside, Laura Seeger had a team-high 15 kills from the pins. Luci Albertson and Emily Schillinger also reached double-digit kills with 11 and 10, respectively, with Joelle Battles adding seven kills and Ella Gardiner putting away a pair.
 
Manuela Nicolini racked up 55 assists for the second straight day, and dumped over four kills of her own from the setter position.
 
Defensively, Haut shared the team high of 22 digs with Georgia Via. Morgan Doll added 11 ups and Nicolini registered eight from the setter spot. Noelle Carey also saw her first extended run in the back row and notched four digs. At the net, Schillinger had a hand in five blocks with Albertson and Gardiner each getting a piece of three of the Stags' nine rejections.
 
To round out the scoring on the day, Doll and Nicolini each landed two service aces, with Schillinger and Carey both serving up one winner.
 
The Stags split the series with the Golden Griffs for the second consecutive full season (excluding the truncated spring 2021 slate in which the teams did not play). Earlier this fall, Fairfield swept Canisius in Buffalo on Sept. 25.
 
"I thought Canisius was much better today [than in the first meeting]. They played with energy and discipline and they executed their gameplan," noted Kress. "They were a completely different team this time, not just in terms of lineup, but they had all of the intangibles today while ours were not where they needed to be."
 
Canisius piled up 17 blocks, with Camila Vazquez having a hand in a match-best nine stuffs. Ella Loussia had a match-leading 22 kills and led all players with 69 swings from the outside. Griffs' libero Bree Long paced all players today with 23 digs.
 
Following this most recent stretch of MAAC action, Fairfield will now play just one match over the next 12 days – an Oct. 30 trip to Quinnipiac to complete the home-and-home with the Bobcats. Quinnipiac, who fell in straight sets at the RecPlex on Oct. 2, is currently 8-14 overall and 7-6 in the MAAC after sweeping its weekend visit for Canisius and Niagara, both by scores of 3-1.