VILLANOVA, Pa. – A red-hot first set, a rally in the second set, and one long run in the third set told the story as Fairfield University Volleyball swept New Hampshire, 3-0, to open play at the Villanova Classic. The Stags, who took the match by set scores of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-18, got 11 kills from KJ Johnson and an eight-kill, four-block outing from Ella Gardiner in the victory.
 
With the win, Fairfield improves to 2-2. The Wildcats, who swept their home tournament last weekend, drop to 4-1.
 
"It was nice to see us come out and correct some errors from last weekend," said Head Coach Todd Kress. "We connected much better with our middles, passed above a 2.1 and made smart selections at the pins."
 
The Stags hit .250 for the match, including a .333 clip in the first set as Fairfield led by as many as 12 points before capping the 11-point victory at 25-14 win.
 
The second frame saw the Stags fall behind, 18-13, before scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a 21-20 advantage. Though the Wildcats would string together back-to-back points to reclaim an edge at 22-21, Back-to-back kills from Gardiner and a UNH attack error brought Fairfield to set point at 24-22. After New Hampshire fought off one opportunity, the Stags cashed in when Gardiner hammered home her third kill during the final stretch to seal the 25-23 win in the stanza and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Neither team would establish an advantage in the early stages of the third set as New Hampshire eked in front, 11-9. But a 7-0 run fueled by two Montgomery aces staked Fairfield to a lead it would not relinquish, and the Stags cruised the rest of the way to clinch the sweep with a 25-18 decision.
 
Johnson hit .290 from the outside with 11 kills, and Mikayla Haut added seven finishers at the pins.
 
The middle-hitting tandem of Gardiner and Sara Daniels combined for 11 kills on 20 swings at a .450 hitting percentage. Gardiner's eight kills came on 15 attempts with just two errors, and Daniels had three kills on five errorless swings.
 
Sabria Cooper rounded out the attack with one kill from the right side.
 
The offense was managed by Blakely Montgomery, who handed out 22 assists and dumped over four kills of her own.
 
"Blakely made great decisions for the entire match and had the other side off-balance all day," noted Kress of his sophomore setter.
 
Montgomery also helped lead the defensive effort with nine digs, while Johnson added seven. Defensive specialists Morgan Doll and Kyla Berg each chipped in five, and Noelle Carey picked up four.
 
At the net, the Stags totaled nine blocks. Daniels had a hand in five of those rejections, with Gardiner playing a part in four and Haut getting a piece of three. In total, the defensive effort held New Hampshire to a season-low .100 hitting percentage.
 
The complete the scoring, Fairfield landed eight service aces – the most allowed by the Wildcats thus far in 2022. Montgomery delivered three of those winners, with Daniels serving a pair and the trio of Berg, Doll and Johnson all dropping in one.
 
New Hampshire was led by 10 kills from Hannah Serbousek and seven apiece by Kelly Kaufmann and Marisa Armer. Wildcats' setter Wren Macaulay had a double-double with 18 assists and 10 digs.
 
"In the non-conference season, my only concerns are that we get better and stay healthy. Today, we did both," added Kress. "Now we will focus on a few items we can correct going into tomorrow night's match with Lafayette."


The Stags will meet the Leopards on Saturday at 7 p.m. Lafayette is opening its 2022 campaign tonight against host Villanova.