HONOLULU – Fairfield University Volleyball opened the 2021 campaign on the short side of a 3-0 decision to host Hawai'i on Friday night in Honolulu. KJ Johnson starred for the Stags with 13 kill, seven digs, three blocks and a service ace in her Fairfield debut.
 
The Rainbow Wahine took the match by set scores of 25-18, 25-12 and 25-18 in their first match since the 2019 NCAA Championship Second Round. Hawai'I is unranked but receiving votes in the preseason edition of the AVCA Coaches' Poll.

"Unfortunately, the team I saw tonight isn't the same team that's been competing in our practice gym for the last two weeks," said Head Coach Todd Kress of his squad's performance. "That being said, I believe we will only continue to get better and will learn from our mental lapses tonight."
 
Johnson's 13 kills came on .286 hitting to pace the Stags offensively on the match. Fellow newcomer Mikayla Haut also made her first career start on the outside and posted four kills with six digs.
 
In the middle, Ella Gardiner had four kills with a hand in four of the Stags' five team blocks. Luci Albertson added a solo rejection along with three kills. Rounding out the attack, the trio of Laura Seeger, Emily Schillinger and Joelle Battles sent home one kill apiece.
 
Manuela Nicolini doled out 13 assists in two sets of action from the setter position. Blakely Montgomery made her debut running the offense and finished with 12 assists in two frames of work.
 
In the back row, Georgia Via led all players with 14 digs.

"KJ and Blakely were both bright spots tonight," Kress noted. "KJ threw out an array of shots and showed just the beginning of the dominant outside she can become. Blakely came off the bench and provided a spark of energy and also made some nice decisions in her first collegiate match." 
 
The Wahine were led by 16 kills on .433 hitting from Brooke Van Sickle and a dozen kills by Riley Wagoner. Mylana Bird distributed 35 assists while running the Hawai'i attack to a .330 hitting percentage. Defensively, Tayli Ikenaga had a team-high 12 digs and Amber Igiede got a piece of four Wahine blocks.
 
The Stags continue action at the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic on Saturday at 4:45 PM (HST) / 10:45 PM (ET) against Texas A&M and conclude the weekend on Sunday at 2:45 PM (HST) / 8:45 PM (ET) against Marquette. The Golden Eagles edged the Aggies in five sets in the tournament opener earlier on Friday.

"Texas A&M poses another challenge and another huge opportunity for our program tomorrow," said Kress. "I'm confident we will look much more like the version of ourselves that I've seen in our gym at Fairfield over the last 17 days."
 
Including the Stags, all four teams at this weekend's tournament competed in the last "full field" edition of the NCAA Championship in 2019.