FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A balanced offense and stifling defense led Fairfield University Volleyball to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon at the RecPlex. KJ Johnson led the attack with 11 kills as the Stags improved to 5-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
 
Fairfield's 5-0 tally makes them the lone remaining unbeaten conference squad, as the Stags have run off an 11-5 overall mark to date. The Bobcats fall to 2-10 on the year with a 1-4 league record. The Stags hit .352 as a unit, committing only six attack errors through the contest. Defensively, Fairfield limited the Quinnipiac to an .077 clip.
 
"Our setters made a lot of nice decisions distributing the ball to our hitters, which makes us difficult to defend, and we were in system for a decent amount the match," said Head Coach Todd Kress, who was honored before the contest for recently notching his 500th career win. "That's all a byproduct of passing decently and being in system defensively more than we have been. We got off several clean blocks, but Alexandra Tennon is a terminal hitter who played very well for Quinnipiac, and we need to recognize when our opponent has a hot hitter and get just a step quicker getting our block in place."
 
The offense was run by the combination of Blakely Montgomery and Abby Jandro, who finished with 19 and 11 assists respectively while the Stags' six hitters all took between seven and 27 swings. Johnson's 11 kills came on 27 errorless attempts for a .407 rate. Her counterpart on the outside Allie Elliott put down seven kills.
 
In the middle, Maya Walker headed the effort with seven kills on 11 swings without an error (.636). The rookie also got a piece of seven of the Stags' nine team blocks.
 
"Maya just keeps getting better, and I couldn't be happier that she's only a freshman," said Kress. "She can block, she's a student of the game, and she's committed to her continued improvement, always asking the right questions and implementing that into her game. She's a joy to coach."
 
Rounding out the attack, Sara Daniels put down six kills, Ella Gardiner had three and Sabria Cooper added two. Montgomery also dumped over a pair of kills from the setter spot.
 
Montgomery's contributions to the scoring also came from the endline, where she landed four service aces. Elliott and Daniels each chipped in one winner as the Stags served up six winners to the Bobcats' two – one that bounced favorably off the tape for the visitors and another that came via Fairfield being whistled out of rotation.
 
Walker's seven blocks guided a showing at the net that also saw Daniels get a piece of five blocks, with Elliott and Gardiner both notching two. In the back row, libero Kyla Berg logged a team-best 11 digs, with setters Jandro and Montgomery each contributing eight and Johnson recording five.
 
Quinnipiac was led by 12 kills apiece from Tennon and Aryanah Diaz. Damla Gunes dished out 29 assists for the Bobcats, and libero Faavae Kimel Moe had a match-leading 14 digs.
 
Today's match was the start of streak in which the Stags will play four straight – and seven of nine – on campus at the RecPlex. Up next is an Oct. 8-9 series with Manhattan and Iona with both matches slated for a 1 p.m. start. The Jaspers were swept at home by Niagara today to fall to 1-13 overall and a 1-4 in the MAAC, while Iona swept visiting Canisius to move to 4-1 in the league as part of a 9-6 overall mark.