FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The outside hitting duo of KJ Johnson and Allie Elliott combined for 31 kills to lead Fairfield University Volleyball past visiting Rider in four sets on Saturday at the RecPlex. The Stags took the match by set scores of 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 and 25-14 to polish off their ninth consecutive win.
 
The Stags, who had already locked up the top seed in the MAAC, move to 16-1 in the conference as a part of a 22-6 overall tally. Rider drops to 9-18 overall and 7-10 in the MAAC. All 10 MAAC volleyball programs will travel down to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex next week for the 2022 MAAC Championship.
 
"It doesn't matter what the standings looks like and whether or not a win or a loss can change that, the approach was the same today and will be the same tomorrow. It's always about getting better each day and working toward being the best version of ourselves when we get to Orlando – but Orlando is now only a few days away," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "I like the productivity we got out of Allie and KJ on the left side today. We still need to connect better with our middles, and our defensive effort needs to be significantly better, it was not up to our standard today."
 
Johnson put down a team-leading 16 kills on .333 hitting at the pins. Elliott added 15 finishers at a .262 clip and recorded 11 digs to secure the third double-double of her rookie campaign. The balanced attack also featured nine kills for Ella Gardiner, seven for Sara Daniels, five on .385 hitting by Sabria Cooper and two from Maya Walker on five errorless attempts.
 
Rounding out the offense, Blakely Montgomery dumped over three kills from the setter spot with Kyla Berg landing one in a vacant corner on an overpass.
 
Montgomery was the primary setter for the Stags, leading the attack to a .281 hitting percentage with a match-best 33 assists. Maddy Jerdonek also spent time at setter and finished with 12 assists in two frames, and Berg racked up five from the back row.
 
The defensive effort featured 14 blocks, headed by Gardiner with a hand in seven rejections and Daniels getting a piece of six. In the back row, Berg shared the match high of 19 digs followed by Elliott's 11, nine for Montgomery and eight by Morgan Doll. The Stags limited Rider to a .172 hitting percentage.
 
The Broncs were led by 19 kills from standout Morgan Romano and a double-double from Jenna Amaro, who finished with 12 kills and 10 digs. Broncs libero Keegan O'Connor matched her Fairfield counterpart with 19 digs.
 
The Stags conclude the regular season on Sunday with a 1 p.m. visit from Saint Peter's in the final match to be played at the RecPlex before moving into the new on-campus Leo D. Mahoney Arena next fall.
 
Prior to Sunday's match, Fairfield will recognize five of its seniors – Joelle Battles, Morgan Doll, Maddy Jerdonek, KJ Johnson and Nya Jones – as well as graduate student Sara Daniels.
 
Battles, Doll, Jerdonek and Jones have all been a part of the Stags' four straight MAAC Regular Season Championships as well as MAAC Tournament Championships and NCAA postseason appearances in both 2019 and 2021. Johnson came to Fairfield from Baylor last fall, earning MAAC Player of the Year honors and the first-ever All-America selection in program history. Daniels is a first-year Stag as a graduate student after completing her undergraduate studies at Saint Louis University.