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Box Score 2 FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After opening the 2021 season nearly 5,000 miles from home in Honolulu, Fairfield University Volleyball was back in action on campus on Friday for the Fairfield Invitational. The Stags split a pair of matches in their home tournament, falling to Seton Hall by a 3-1 count before bouncing back to sweep Kent State for their first win of the campaign.
After the day of action, Fairfield moves to 1-4 on the season; the Stags went 0-3 against perennial national powers Hawaii, Texas A&M and Marquette last weekend to go along with today's split.
"The Hawaii tournament was great for us in that we have eight new faces in the program this year, and it gave us the opportunity to get away and get to know each other off the court," said Head Coach
Todd Kress. "But having said that, we also had our opportunities against a high-level of competition; we had a couple of 25-23 sets that we didn't take advantage of."
"And the Seton Hall match today was much the same," Kress continued. "I give them credit; they made the plays they needed to beat us. Tonight against Kent State, we made that step. So hopefully that's a mental hurdle that we've cleared, and now we need to believe in ourselves, find our confidence, and get to know each other on the court leading into MAAC play."
The 2021 Fairfield Invitational marks the first-ever NCAA volleyball action to be held in the Fairfield University RecPlex. The Stags will play all of their home matches at the RecPlex this fall as construction continues on the new Arena and Convocation Center.
KJ Johnson led the attack on the outside in both matches today, sending home 16 kills against Seton Hall and 15 finishers against Kent State – both match-highs.
Emily Schillinger also reached double figures in both ends of the Friday twin bills with 12 and 13 kills, respectively, in the pair of outings.
On the right side,
Joelle Battles added a 14-kill performance against the Pirates, with
Luci Albertson adding 10 kills from the middle in the sweep of the Golden Flashes to round out the Stags' offensive leaders.
The Stags' attack was managed by
Manuela Nicolini, who notched a pair of double-doubles. She distributed 40 assists with 11 digs in the opener and followed up with 41 assists and 10 digs in the nightcap.
Kyla Berg headed the effort in the back row in both matches with a team-best 12 digs against Seton Hall before leading all players with 13 against Kent State.
The Stags conclude the Fairfield Invitational on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Hofstra. The Pride shared the same fate as the Stags in their two outings today, earning a win over Kent State and falling to Seton Hall. Fairfield will also be in action on Sunday for a 1 p.m. visit from High Point.
All Fairfield home matches this fall will be broadcast live on the Stags Sports Network.
