FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball wraps up a four-match homestand at the RecPlex when Marist comes to town on Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. first serve. The Stags are currently leading the MAAC as league play nears the halfway point, while Marist is one of three teams tied for second place in the conference standings.
The Stags are coming off of a weekend sweep of Manhattan and Iona to improve to 7-0 in the MAAC as part of a 13-5 overall record. Fairfield's seven wins have come in just 21 sets of work, as the Stags are hitting .309 against conference foes while limiting MAAC opponents to a paltry .098 clip.
A 7-0 start has staked the Stags to a two-match lead in the loss column, with Iona (7-2), Marist (6-2) and Canisius (6-2) all jockeying for position in second place. Fairfield has handed one loss to each of those three clubs, with the Red Foxes as the first repeat opponent on the 2022 slate.
In the first meeting of the clubs on Sept. 24 in McCann Arena, Fairfield used 13 blocks to slow the potent Marist attack.
KJ Johnson had a hand in six of those rejections and also posted a team-leading 12 kills.
The block party also included four send-backs for
Ella Gardiner and three solo stuffs from
Sabria Cooper. The back row contributed to the defensive effort with libero
Kyla Berg notching a match-high 19 digs, while
Mikayla Haut added seven and Johnson posted six. All told, the Fairfield defense limited Marist to a .111 hitting percentage, including 11 errors – eight of the them courtesy of Stags' blocks – from standout hitter Sasha van de Merwe.
On the offensive side, Johnson's 12 kills came on 30 errorless attempts for an even .400 hitting percentage.
Ella Gardiner added a .667 rate from the middle with nine kills (9-1-12), while Haut notched four and Cooper put down three. Rounding out the attack, the quintet of
Maya Walker,
Blakely Montgomery,
Allie Elliott,
Sara Daniels and the libero Berg all landed two kills apiece.
The attack was managed by the setting duo of Montgomery and
Abby Jandro, who finished with 19 and seven assists, respectively.
Marist was led by 15 kills for van der Merwe and seven from Gabrielle Heller. Setter McKinley Fox had a match-high 25 assists, and libero Morgan Owens paced the Red Foxes back row with 13 digs.
Marist's 6-2 league tally is part of a 10-8 overall record. In addition to the Sept. 24 loss to the Stags, the Red Foxes most recently dropped a 3-1 decision to Siena in Poughkeepsie this past Sunday. Marist's six MAAC victories have been sweeps of Manhattan, Iona, Quinnipiac and Saint Peter's along with two five-set triumphs over Rider and Quinnipiac.
Up next, the Stags hit the road for the first time in October with a weekend swing to Saint Peter's and Rider on Oct. 15-16. The Peacocks and Broncs are the two remaining MAAC opponents who are yet to face Fairfield in 2022.
Action then returns to the RecPlex for a three-match stretch featuring Niagara and Canisius on Oct. 22-23 and a midweek tilt with Siena on Oct. 26.
