FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After opening the 2021 season with three matches in Hawai'i, it has been three weeks and 10 matches since Fairfield University Volleyball left the confines of Fairfield, Connecticut. This weekend, the Stags make another voyage outside the Nutmeg State with the longest trek of the MAAC schedule – the annual Western New York swing to challenge Canisius and Niagara. First serve on Saturday in Buffalo and Sunday in Niagara Falls are both slated for noon.
 
After a balanced opening weekend around the conference, the trio of Fairfield, Canisius and Niagara are the only three squads to emerge with a 2-0 league record. The Stags swept visiting Rider and Saint Peter's last weekend in the RecPex, while the Golden Griffins and Purple Eagles each knocked off both Marist and Siena to stay unblemished in MAAC action.
 
The 2-0 weekend of the Stags pushed their overall count to 7-6 on the season. Fairfield has won three straight overall and six of seven outings since a 1-5 start to the campaign. The Stags swept a doubleheader from host Niagara during the spring 2021 season, running their streak to five in a row from the Purple Eagles and bumping the overall series to 39-11 since 1991.
 
Due to the truncated nature of the spring slate, Fairfield and Canisius have not played each other since the 2019 campaign, when they split the home-and-home series. The Golden Griffs have won three of the last four encounters, but Fairfield maintains 32-15 advantage in the overall series since 1989.
 
This weekend starts a span in which Fairfield will play five of their next six league matches away from campus. Up next is the lone home contest during that stretch as in-state MAAC foe Quinnipiac comes to the RecPlex on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.