HAMDEN, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball rolled past host Quinnipiac in straight sets on Saturday in Hamden, completing a season sweep of its in-state Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe. The 3-0 victory was the sixth straight triumph for the first-place Stags.
Fairfield stands at 13-1 in the MAAC as a part of a 19-6 overall record. The Stags maintain at least a three match advantage in the loss column over Iona, Siena and Marist – all of whom are in action today and tomorrow – with four contests left on the regular season slate. Quinnipiac sees its four-match winning streak come to an end as the Bobcats drop to 7-14 overall and 6-8 in conference play.
"Today was arguably our best team win of the season. With KJ [Johnson] out injured, our entire group knew what we needed of them and exceed expectations," said Head Coach
Todd Kress. "Our setters did a great job executing a gameplan and press through our middles and opposites, and they all stepped up in a big way. I was also pleased with our attention to detail and how we executed our plan on the block. We are glad to have a couple days off to rest and get ready to get back after it on Tuesday."
The Stags hit .329 for the match, fueled by the middle hitting duo of
Ella Gardiner (6-0-9, .667) and
Maya Walker (3-1-4, .500). On the right side,
Sara Daniels put down a team-high 11 kills on .471 hitting and
Sabria Cooper added six kills at a .357 clip.
Allie Elliott and
Mikayla Haut shouldered the load on the outside with eight and three kills, respectively, and
Morgan Doll sent home one kill swinging from the back row.
Blakely Montgomery and
Abby Jandro ran the Stags' 6-2 attack, doling out 18 and 10 assists, respectively.
Kyla Berg was also active from the libero spot with seven assists donning the off-color jersey.
Berg also headed the defensive effort in the back row with a match-best 15 digs. Elliott added 12 digs and Jandro picked up 10 to round out her first career double-double. At the net, Gardiner had a hand in five of the Stags' nine team blocks. Walker was a part of four send-backs and Elliott and Daniels each got a piece of three rejections. Fairfield's defensive limited Quinnipiac to a .093 team hitting percentage.
The Bobcats were led on the attack with Aryanah Diaz's match-high 14 kills. Damla Gunes dished out 29 assists running the Quinnipiac offense, and libero Faavae Kimsel Moe had a team-best 11 digs.
The Stags wrap up the road portion of the schedule next weekend with visits to Iona and Manhattan on Nov. 5-6. The regular season concludes at the RecPlex on Nov. 12-13 against Rider and Saint Peter's.
The 2022 MAAC Championship is slated for Nov. 16-19 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
