FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After a win for Fairfield University Volleyball last season in High Point's first-ever trip to campus, the visiting Panthers returned the favor on Saturday afternoon at the RecPlex and will head back to North Carolina on the heels of a 3-0 decision. The Stags were led by match highs of 10 kills and seven digs from
KJ Johnson.
With the loss, the Stags fall to 6-4. High Point – the reigning Big South Regular Season Champions – improve to 7-3 with an unbeaten weekend in Connecticut. The Panthers also defeated Sacred Heart and Howard during their stay in the Nutmeg State.
"We did not stay in system or take purposeful shots today. We lacked intensity and looked like a team disinterested today, and that's frustrating," said Head Coach
Todd Kress. "This was a big RPI opportunity for both sides, and we didn't answer the bell. After how we've performed the last couple of weeks, I expected us to compete better. And I'm not worried about the end result and the loss on our record, but we need to figure out the 'why' and resolve that if we want to continue moving forward."
Johnson was the lone Stag in double figures, racking up her 10 kills with just one error to post a .346 hitting percentage on the outside.
Allie Elliott shared time in the L2 spot and put down six kills on 13 swings with one error for a .385 percentage, The rest of the offensive spread included three kills apiece from
Ella Gardiner,
Mikayla Haut and
Sabria Cooper, two from
Sara Daniels and one from
Joelle Battles.
The setting duo of
Blakely Montgomery and
Abby Jandro dished out 16 and nine assists, respectively, piloting Fairfield to a .184 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Johnson's seven digs led the effort following by four apiece for Montgomery,
Morgan Doll and
Avery Schner. The Stags totaled three blocks, including two assists apiece for Haut and Daniels.
High Point had three hitters reach double figures with Sydney Palazzolo amassing 12 and the pair of Dylan Maberry and Gabrielle Idlebird each posting 11. All van Eekeren guided the attack to a .414 hitting percentage with 41 assists, and libero Jenny Wessling had a match-high 11 digs.
"We've lost some good opportunities against Washington State and High Point, but we have another chance tomorrow against a talented Howard team," Kress noted. "If we can address our focus, our intensity and our grit, we can still build some momentum from this weekend and be in a good position going into a challenging start to the MAAC schedule with the Buffalo trip."
Howard is 0-2 this weekend and 2-5 overall with a match against FDU slated for tonight. The Bison have six of the last seven MEAC Championships, including the fall of 2021 crown. First serve on Sunday in the Fairfield Invitational finale is slated for 2 p.m.
