WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Fairfield University Volleyball closed out its 2023 season on Thursday evening in the NCAA Championship First Round at #12 Purdue. The third-seeded Boilermakers took the match from the Stags in straight sets by scores of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-12.
Fairfield wraps up the 13th MAAC Championship season in program history with a record of 22-7. The Stags also won the MAAC Regular Season Championship for the 22nd time in the last 28 seasons. Fairfield is the only team in the nation with an active streak of five outright regular season crowns.
"I'm proud of our performance tonight; we didn't just compete, we played well," said Head Coach
Nancy Somera. "Purdue is a talented, physical team, but I thought we gave them a run, especially in the first set. Their two big guns just stepped up and gave them kills when they needed them. But we were scrappy and found ways to win points."
Svenja Rodenbusch led the Stags' attack with eight kills from the pins. The trio of
Mikayla Haut,
Maya Walker and
Mamie Krubally added five finishers apiece, with
Janna Schlageter and
Allie Elliott each chipping in two.
Blakely Montgomery started at the setter spot and doled out 19 assists, running the Stags to a .159 hitting percentage.
Defensively,
Kyla Berg had a team-best Haut and nine digs playing in her home state of Indiana. Elliott and
Noelle Carey chipped in four apiece. At the net, Schlageter and Walker teamed up for Fairfield's lone block against the Boilermakers.
The hard-hitting duo of Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine led Purdue with 16 and 15 kills, respectively.
The Stags played from behind for the majority of Set 1, but fueled by seven Rodenbusch kills in the frame, steadily tacked on points to stay in striking distance out to a 17-15 score. At that point, the Boilermakers made their run with a 9-0 stretch to reach set point at 24-15. A Schlageter kill ended the Fairfield dry spell but Purdue quickly closed out the set, 25-17, to take a 1-0 lead.
The Purdue run came earlier in the second set as the hosts opened up a 10-4 advantage. The Stags ran off three straight with kills from Walker and Haut followed by a Berg ace, but the Boilermakers answered with four in a row to take a 14-7 lead. The Stags were no closer than six points the rest of the way as Purdue pulled away for a 25-13 win, earning a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Krubally put down two early kills in the third set as the Stags took a 3-2 lead, but Purdue won five of the next six rallies and never looked back. The Boilermakers salted away the sweep with a 25-12 final.
Purdue (22-8) will host sixth-seeded Marquette tomorrow night for a spot in next weekend's Madison (Wisconsin) Regional.
