EAST LANSING, Mich. – Fairfield University Volleyball was on the short side of two 3-0 scores on Saturday at the Spartan Invitational. After besting Eastern Michigan on Friday, the Stags dropped 3-0 decisions to Louisiana and host Michigan State to close out the season opening tournament at 1-2.

"It was a tough day for us today; not necessarily from an execution standpoint, but in terms of mental focus, adherence to process and digging deep when it mattered the most," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "We have a strong core and foundation. Those teams usually don't buckle as quickly as we did this weekend. But that's where we're at, and we have to fix it quickly. Our preseason schedule will continue to provide opportunities. The question is, how will we respond? I'm looking forward to the changes we will all make to yield a better product on the court."
 
Louisiana 3, Fairfield 0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-10)
In the morning match against Louisiana, Mikayla Haut paced the attack with nine kills, while fellow pin hitter KJ Johnson added seven. Ella Gardiner put down four kills in the middle, with two finishers apiece coming from Sabria Cooper, Sara Daniels, Nya Jones and setter Blakely Montgomery.
 
Montgomery dished out 21 assists from the setter spot, with Abby Jandro making her Fairfield debut to finish out the first set and distributing four helpers.
 
Defensively, Morgan Doll notched eight of the Stags' 29 digs. In the front row, Gardiner had a hand in two of Fairfield's three blocks with Johnson, Haut and Cooper playing a part in one rejection apiece.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns were led by 13 kills from Coco Gillett and 10 from Lauryn Hill. For the weekend, Louisiana defeated Eastern Michigan in five sets and dropped a five-setter to Michigan to finish at 2-1.
 
Michigan State 3, Fairfield 0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-13)
KJ Johnson led Fairfield in the nightcap, putting down six kills. Ella Gardiner and Mikayla Haut each had five, Sabria Cooper and Joelle Battles hammered two apiece, and Sara Daniels registered one. Blakely Montgomery dished out 16 assists.
 
The Stags racked up nine blocks to highlight the defensive performance against the Spartans. Daniels got a piece of eight of those nine send-backs, and Johnson was in on seven blocks. Morgan Doll once again led the back row with nine digs, with Kyla Berg and Noelle Carey chipping in eight and seven digs, respectively.
 
Michigan State, which wrapped up its home tournament at 3-0, got 15 kills on .429 hitting by Rebecka Poljan. Zoe Nunez handed out 38 assists, and Nalani Iosia led all players with 18 digs.
 
Fairfield is back in action next weekend at the Villanova Classic. The Stags will play one match per day from Sept. 2-4, tangling with Lafayette, New Hampshire and the host Wildcats.