LOS ANGELES – Fairfield University pushed #14 nationally-ranked and 13th-seeded UCLA to the limit on Friday at Pauley Pavilion in the NCAA Championship First Round. The Stags went toe-to-toe with the Bruins in three razor-thin sets, serving for set point in two of them, in an eventual 3-0 loss. UCLA escaped the upset bid from the MAAC Champions by set scores of 29-27, 25-23 and 26-24.
 
"I'm proud that we went toe-to-toe with a team like UCLA with their rich tradition of volleyball, on their home court, and there wasn't one point where I felt that we backed down," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "We fought back, we pushed back, and there were times when I thought we were in control. The unfortunate thing tonight is that we didn't finish. But we were very close against a very good Pac-12 team, and that speaks volumes about our program and our student-athletes."
 
With the loss, the Stags wrap up the 2021 season at 24-9. Fairfield was making its 12th trip to the NCAA postseason as MAAC Champions. UCLA moves on to face UCF in the second round after the Knights defeated Pepperdine, 3-1, in the day's opening match.
 
Laura Seeger led Fairfield with 12 kills in her final match as a Stag. MAAC Rookie of the Year Mikayla Haut added nine finishers and MAAC Player of the Year KJ Johnson posted eight.
 
"I'm so proud of this team," said Seeger. "To really and truly compete with a team like UCLA was fantastic."
 
Seeger was appearing in her first NCAA postseason match, having missed the opportunity in 2019 due to an injury sustained in the MAAC Championship Match.
 
"This was my last chance, so I just wanted to go out there and enjoy the experience," Seeger added. "It was a second chance and I'm so happy to have had the opportunity."
 
Ella Gardiner added three kills on six errorless swings from the middle. Manuela Nicolini and Emily Schillinger rounded out the attack with two kills apiece. Nicolini – the four-time MAAC Setter of the Year – dished out 22 assists in her collegiate finale. Blakely Montgomery also spent time at setter in the opening set and distributed seven helpers.
 
Defensively, Gardiner set a new Fairfield NCAA postseason record with eight blocks. The Stags' 11 team blocks also marked the most by the Stags on the national stage. Nicolini and Haut each played a part in four blocks, and Schillinger had a hand in two. Also on the defensive side of the net, Johnson paced the back row with nine digs and Morgan Doll posted six from the libero spot.
 
Three-time All-American and reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Mac May led UCLA with 21 kills.
 
In the opening set, the Stags raced out to a 7-2 lead and held the advantage out to a 19-15 count. At that point, the Bruins rattled off a 6-0 run to claim a 21-19 lead and pushed the margin to 23-21. Fairfield rallied to tie the frame at 23-23, then fought off a set point down 24-23. The Stags were then held off on three set-point chances of their own before UCLA made a final surge to win the stanza, 29-27.
 
The Stags fell behind early in the second set, facing a quick 8-4 deficit. But Fairfield would respond with six of the next seven points to take a 10-9 lead, and the action went back-and-forth out to a 19-19 deadlock. UCLA broke the tie with three straight points and kept the Stags at arm's length the rest of the way to take a 25-23 decision and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set was emblematic of the match as a whole as neither team led by more than two points for the duration of the frame. The Stags won the race to set point at 24-22, but UCLA leaned on their All-American May for back-to-back kills to draw even, then capitalized on consecutive errors to take the 26-24 win and snag the 3-0 victory.
 
"The first thing I told the team in the locker room is that I'm overly proud but also very frustrated, and they understand because they are too," noted Kress, the eight-time MAAC Coach of the Year. "There is no way that they can do anything tonight but hold their heads up, but they also understand that the plays we needed to win this match were all around us. And that makes us hungrier and even more motivated to get back here and to take the next step."
 
The 2021 Stags won the 12th MAAC Championship and 20th MAAC Regular Season Championship in program history. Fairfield's roster boasts four seniors and two graduate students in addition to the 13 underclassmen slated to return for the 2022 campaign.