FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Thirty-four ties and fourteen lead changes encompassed a back-and-forth contest at the RecPlex as Fairfield University Volleyball hosted MAAC foe Marist on Wednesday evening. The five-set match stayed close to the very end as the final two sets were decided by two points apiece with the Red Foxes claiming the 3-2 victory by scores of 21-25, 25-11, 21-25, 25-23 and 15-13.
 
"I thought Marist wanted it more than we did. They were aggressive throughout the match, while we were passive at some critical times," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "Matches like this are valuable as far as learning how we will respond and who will step up in the face of adversity. Tonight, we obviously didn't get the response we had hoped for, and now we need to figure out how we are going to respond differently in the future."
 
With their first MAAC loss of the season, the Stags move to 13-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play. Marist salvages a split of the season series – Fairfield swept the Red Foxes in Poughkeepsie on Sept 24 – and improves to 11-8 overall with a 7-2 MAAC record. The Stags remain in first place as league play reaches the halfway point this weekend, while Marist joins Canisius (6-2) and Iona (7-2) as the trio of teams sitting one match behind Fairfield in the loss column.
 
Fairfield's attack was led by 19 kills from reigning MAAC Player of the Year KJ Johnson, including 13 in the final two sets. Mikayla Haut also rang up 13 kills on .346 hitting from the outside as she provided a spark off the bench. Ella Gardiner added six kills in the middle, with Sabria Cooper, Allie Elliott and Maya Walker all contributing four. Sara Daniels put down three finishers to round out the attack.
 
Blakely Montgomery shouldered the majority of the setting duties and dished out 34 assists while dumping over four kills of her own. Maddy Jerdonek aided the setting effort in three frames and distributed a total of seven assists.
 
Defensively, the Stags compiled 11 teams blocks with Walker getting a hand on six and Gardiner playing a role in five rejections. The back row featured 12 digs from Kyla Berg and 10 by Montgomery to cap her third double-double of the season. Elliott chipped in with nine digs.
 
Marist relied on its heavy hitting trio of pin hitters, led by Gabrielle Heller's 25 kills on .393 hitting. Sasha van de Merwe neared a triple-double with 16 kills, 10 digs and nine blocks for the Red Foxes and Jordan Newblatt posted nine kills with a match-high 19 digs. All told, the trio accounted for 50 of Marist's 61 kills and 59.5 of their 77 points. McKinley Fox ran the Marist offense to a .228 hitting percentage with 57 assists.
 
Tonight's contest ended a four-match homestand for the Stags, who will now hit the road for the first time in October for 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.