FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After dropping the first set on Saturday afternoon in the MAAC Championship Semifinals, Fairfield University Volleyball bounced back and won the next three to dispatch Rider, 3-1, and advance to the 2023 MAAC Championship Match. The top-seeded Stags will play second-seeded Quinnipiac on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Leo D. Mahoney Arena with the conference crown at stake.
With the win, the Stags improve to 21-6 and advance to the MAAC Championship Match for the 22nd time in the last 28 seasons. Fifth-seeded Rider, which swept Niagara in Friday's opening round, ends its campaign at 12-17.
The Stags called upon 11 different players in the match, with seven putting down three or more kills. That effort was led by
Mikayla Haut and
Mamie Krubally with 12 kills apiece.
Maya Walker fueled the action from the middle with 11 kills on .526 hitting and also had a hand in a team-leading five blocks.
Adding to the attack, Svenja Rodenbüsch got the call on the pins and delivered nine kills at a .263 clip.
Allie Elliott pitched I five kills and
Janna Schlageter put down three.
Fairfield utilized a pair of setters to run the offense to a .230 clip.
Blakely Montgomery got the start and doled out 18 assists, and
Abby Jandro came on in relief and handed out 24. Jandro also dumped over three kills, including the match winner.
The Stags' defensive showing was also a team effort, with all 11 players to take the court recording at least one dig.
Kyla Berg headed the back row from the libero spot with a match-best 16 digs and Elliott had 11. The duo of Rodenbüsch and Jandro pitched in seven digs apiece and
Noelle Carey posted five.
At the net, Walker's five blocks were followed by four from Haut and three by Krubally as the Stags limited Rider to a .120 hitting percentage.
To round out the scoring, Elliott served up three of Fairfield's eight aces, with Rodenbüsch landing a pair.
"We've been saying all year that it's going to take all of us to win a championship. No matter the situation, we know whomever we call upon is going to be ready to go," said Head Coach
Nancy Somera. "That's the mentality that got us through today, and we will need the same mentality when we're back on the court tomorrow playing for the MAAC title."
How It Happened
Set 1 | The Stags led by as many as five points in the early stages of the opening set, but soon found themselves in a back-and-forth with Rider out to a 19-19 tie. The Broncs came out of the deadlock with three straight points to gain a lead they would not relinquish, eventually take a frame by a 25-21 final.
Set 2 | The back-and-forth action continued into the second set, which featured 11 ties. The stanza landed at 23-23, with Rider again coming out of the stalemate to earn a set point chance. Fairfield fought off the point on a Haut kill to knot the set at 24-24 and then took a 25-24 lead to earn its own opportunity to claim the set. Rider would pull even for the final time at 25-25 before back-to-back kills from Schlageter and Rodenbüsch finished off the frame, 27-25, to tie the match at 1-1.
Set 3 | Fairfield controlled the pivotal third set, breaking open a 6-6 tie with nine of the next 12 points to surge in front, 15-9. The Stags kept a foot on the gas for the remainder of the set, finishing on an 8-0 run to earn the decisive 25-11 win and take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Set 4 | The momentum carried into Set 4 as the Stags took a 4-0 lead and never looked back in a wire-to-wire win. The Broncs never faded away, staying as close at 20-17 down the stretch, but one more 3-0 spurt doubled the lead and fueled Fairfield to a 25-21 win to ice the match, 3-1.
Up Next
Top-seeded Fairfield hosts second-seeded Quinnipiac on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the MAAC Championship Match – a rematch of the 2022 final. The clubs split in the regular season this fall with each team winning, 3-1, on its home court. The Bobcats are 19-9 after a 3-1 win over Iona this evening at Mahoney Arena in the semifinals.
