FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The final road weekend of 2022 sees Fairfield University Volleyball heading to the Empire State to challenge Iona and Manhattan on Nov. 5-6. The Stags can clinch at least a share of their 21st MAAC Regular Season Championship with one win on the road swing and would claim the crown outright with victories over both the Gaels and the Jaspers.
Fairfield enters the weekend at 19-6 overall and 13-1 in the MAAC. The Stags hold a three-game advantage in the loss column over both Iona (16-9, 11-4 MAAC) and Marist (15-10, 11-4 MAAC). A win over Iona would lock up the #1 seed as well as the regular season crown, as the Stags already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Marist as a result of their September sweep over the Red Foxes (vs. Marist's five-set win in the Oct. 12 rematch). With a loss to Iona, the Stags would need a win on Sunday at Manhattan to clinch a share of the regular season title, with the one seed still up for grabs pending other results around the conference.
In addition to jockeying for position atop the MAAC standings, one more victory would also secure Fairfield's sixth 20-win season in the last seven campaigns in which 20 or more matches were played (the Stags went 9-1 in a truncated Spring 2021 season). It would also be the ninth 20-win season for Head Coach Todd Kress in 13 years at the helm.
Fairfield is in search of a home-and-home sweep of both the Gaels and Jaspers after hosting and defeating each squad in early October. In the Oct. 9 win over Iona, Ella Gardiner led a balanced attack with 10 kills on 15 errorless swings as the Stags finished off the Gaels, 3-0, by set scores of 25-16, 25-22 and 25-15.
Gardiner's 10 kills on .667 hitting paced the Stags to a .287 clip as a unit. The Stags' attack also featured nine and seven kills, respectively, from Allie Elliott and KJ Johnson on the outside. Sabria Cooper added six kills, Sara Daniels had four and Maya Walker put down three. Abby Jandro dumped over one from the setter spot to round out the offense.
On Oct. 8, the Stags made short work of Manhattan with a 3-0 sweep by scores of 25-4, 25-10 and 25-13. Fairfield hit at a solid .311 clip for the match with six players contributing kills. Daniels and Nya Jones led that effort from the middle with eight kills apiece, and Walker had seven finishers. Jones swung at a team-leading .467 and Walker posted a .462 hitting percentage on her 13 swings.
The attack from the pins featured seven kills for Elliott, six for Morgan Doll and three from Mikayla Haut.
Following this weekend's action, the Stags will be back to close out the regular season with the final matches set to be played at the RecPlex. Fairfield hosts Rider on Saturday, Nov. 12 and Saint Peter's for Senior Day on Sunday, Nov. 13 with both contests slated for 1 p.m.
The 2022 MAAC Championship will be held on Nov. 16-19 with all 10 MAAC Volleyball teams trekking down to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
