FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After sweeping their way through Western New York last weekend to take sole possession of first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Fairfield University Volleyball returns to campus this Saturday, Oct. 2 to host Quinnipiac. First serve from the RecPlex is slated for 1 p.m.
Admission to Saturday's match will is free to all fans. All who plan to attend are reminded that masks are required – regardless of vaccination status -- in all indoor facilities on campus.
The match will also be broadcast live on the
Stags Sports Network.
The pair of 3-0 victories over Canisius and Niagara moved the Stags to 4-0 in the MAAC and 9-6 overall. Fairfield has won five consecutive matches, eight of its last nine, and four straight on its home court.
As the 2021 season turns the page to October, several Stags find themselves among the conference and national leaders.
KJ Johnson leads the MAAC and ranks 13th nationally in kills per set (4.67), while her .317 hitting percentage is fifth in the conference and tops among all pin hitters in the league.
Also on the offensive end,
Manuela Nicolini is sixth in the country with a MAAC-leading 11.31 assists per frame, guiding the Stags to a conference-best .244 hitting percentage. The three-time MAAC Setter of the Year ranks third all-time in Fairfield history with 3,826 assists. She has also cracked the all-time top 10 with 270 blocks – the only setter on that list – and has reached over 900 digs in her 406 sets as a Stag.
Defensively this season,
Luci Albertson is only the MAAC player (who qualifies in the NCAA rankings) to average 1.00 block per set. Her 51 rejections this fall have vaulted her to 321 blocks in her career, good for sixth all-time at Fairfield.
Quinnipiac dropped a Wednesday evening contest at Marist to fall to 3-11 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC. The Bobcats' league wins have come over Saint Peter's and Canisius with losses at the hands of Rider and Niagara.
Fairfield leads the all-time series with their in-state MAAC foe by an 18-2 count. The teams split a season-ending doubleheader in Hamden this past spring with a pair of five-set contests. The Stags had won five straight over Quinnipiac prior to the Bobcats' 3-2 win in the finale of that March twin bill.
Following this Saturday's action, the Stags will play their next three MAAC contests away from the RecPlex. First up, Fairfield heads to New Jersey for return meetings with Saint Peter's and Rider on Oct. 9-10 followed by a Wednesday, Oct. 13 tilt at Siena.
Action returns to campus the following weekend, Oct. 16-17, as the Stag host Manhattan and Iona in league action.
