FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Faced with a 5-1 deficit in the deciding fifth set of Sunday's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matchup with Canisius, Fairfield University Volleyball Head Coach Todd Kress called his first timeout of the final frame.
 
"I just reminded them that 5-1 is the same thing as 15-11 in a regular set, and that there's no need to panic," said the eight-time MAAC Coach of the Year. "I think that just helped everybody slow their minds down, and we went out and executed with some big blocks, and Blakely [Montgomery} went on a run serving."
 
Despite the Griffs getting the next point out of the stoppage, the Stags responded with a run that included four KJ Johnon kills as well as a three blocks and a kill by Maya Walker to turn the 6-1 deficit into a 9-6 advantage. Though Canisius would stop the run for a moment, the Stags then rolled off five more consecutive points featuring kills for Johnson, Walker and Allie Elliott and capped by a block from Walker and Elliott to bring the contest to match point at 14-7.
 
The Griffs had one final surge in them to trim the margin to 14-11 before Sara Daniels put down her eighth kill of the afternoon to complete the comeback and close out the set and the 3-2 victory.
 
"Of course I'd like to see us finish when we have that lead, but I'm not complaining after being down 6-1 and then responding the way we did. It's a testament to the team that we can stay composed and flip that deficit that quickly," Kress added.
 
With the victory, the Stags improve to 17-6 overall and 11-1 in the MAAC. The Griffs fall to 9-12 on the season with a 7-5 conference tally. Fairfield has won four straight matches since its lone MAAC loss of the fall, including back-to-back wins this weekend over the MAAC's Western New York contingent in Niagara yesterday and Canisius this afternoon.
 
"It was nice to pull out a couple of wins against quality opponents. I thought we were more solid yesterday – today we were a little flat and weren't quite ready to answer the bell – but we rebounded from that and put together a couple of nice sets in between a couple of clunkers," said Kress of the 2-0 weekend at the RecPlex. "There's always things to work on, but the fact is that there were a couple of spots losing the first set and going down 6-1 in the fifth that we could have given the match away, and we didn't. So I'm proud of that."
 
KJ Johnson's five kills in the fifth set highlighted 18 total finishers for the reigning MAAC Player of the Year. Johnson, who hit .279 on her 43 swings from the outside, also picked up 10 digs for her second straight double-double. Her foil on the outside, Allie Elliott, added nine kills with 11 digs.
 
In the middle, Ella Gardiner hit .571 on her way to nine kills and Maya Walker had seven kills swinging at a .333 clip. The right-side duo of Sara Daniels and Sabria Cooper added eight and seven kills respectively. Rounding out the attack, Abby Jandro had two kills while Blakely Montgomery and Nya Jones each posted one.
 
The Stags' attack was run to a .267 hitting percentage by Montgomery with 31 assists along with Jandro's 20 helpers.
 
Defensively, the Stags racked up 12 blocks with Walker playing a part in a team-best six send-backs. Johnson and Jones were each a part of four stuffs and Gardiner had a hand in three. In the back row, Morgan Doll had 15 digs as one of five Stags in double digits. Elliott and Montgomery had 11 apiece with Johnson and Kyla Berg each recording 10 digs.
 
Ella Louissa led Canisius with a match-high 19 kills. Kara Zaucha had 16 for the Griffs and Taylor Baldwin put down 10. Ela Bourque managed the Canisius attack to a .223 clip with her match-leading 54 assists. Libero Bree Long posted a team-best 13 digs.
 
The Stags will have a short turnaround as second-place Siena comes to the RecPlex on Wednesday, Oct. 26 for a 7 p.m. first serve. The Saints claimed sole possession of the number two spot in the league standings with a 3-0 sweep of Iona this afternoon, running their winning streak to eight matches.