FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball closed out the regular season home slate with a 3-1 win over Marist on Sunday afternoon at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. The victory secured a first-round bye for the Stags in the upcoming MAAC Championship, which will be held at Mahoney Arena from Nov. 17-19.
Fairfield improves to 18-6 overall and 14-2 in the MAAC with the win, which avenges a 3-2 loss in Poughkeepsie on Sept. 24. The Stags are one match ahead of Quinnipiac (13-3) in the standings and can lay claim to at least a share of their fifth consecutive MAAC Regular Season Championship with one win or one Bobcats' loss next weekend. Though Fairfield is locked into a top two seed, Quinnipiac owns the tiebreaker over the Stags, meaning only two wins next weekend against Saint Peter's and Rider would guarantee the #1 seed (pending QU's results against the same two opponents).
Marist falls to 13-15 overall and 11-6 in the MAAC.
"Of course, it was an important match in the standings, but the biggest thing to me is that we played better this time around against a team that outplayed us six weeks ago," said Head Coach Nancy Somera. "These are the type of matches you can expect from the top teams in the conference when November rolls around, and the experience can only help us as we get closer to the postseason."
As is becoming the Stags' offensive trademark, five killers had between six and 12 kills for the Stags. Mikayla Haut led that effort with a dozen from the pins, with Svenja Rodenbusch adding eight. Maya Walker guided the middle with seven kills, and Mamie Krubally pitched in seven from the right side. Allie Elliott rounded out the quintet of primary hitters with six kills.
The attack was run through Blakely Montgomery, who doled out 38 assists and dumped over four kills of her own. Montgomery also rounded out a double-double with a team-leading 15 digs.
Also in the back row, Kyla Berg notched 14 digs from the libero spot. Elliott pitched in nine and Rodenbusch had eight from the back row.
At the net, that Stags rang up 14 blocks. Janna Schlageter had a hand in seven of those rejections, with Walker and Krubally each getting a piece of six.
Rounding out the scoring, Fairfield landed eight service aces. Elliott and Noelle Carey each served up three winners, with Montgomery and Rodenbusch accounting for one apiece.
In addition to tally eight points from service line, the Stags did not commit a service error for the first time in "rally scoring" history (2002-pres.).
How It Happened
SET 1 | The fifth and final tie of Set 1 came at 13-13, with Fairfield emerging from the deadlock with four straight points. The Foxes fought back with three in a row to cut the deficit to one, but the Stags ended the frame with a 6-2 stretch to cap a 25-20 decision.
SET 2 | The Stags led by as many as five points early in Set 2, but Marist rallied to knot the score at 17-17. The stalemate held to a 23-23 count before back-to-back kills by Schlageter and Montgomery iced the set, 25-24, to stake Fairfield to a 2-0 lead.
SET 3 | The Red Foxes came out of the intermission playing like a team with their backs against the wall, as they grabbed a 6-0 lead to start Set 3. The spread grew as large as 11-2 before the Stags fought back to within four points at 15-11. But the initial Marist spurt proved insurmountable as the Red Foxes continued to tack points on the board to extend the match with a 25-15 triumph.
SET 4 | The fourth frame was close early with six ties out to an 8-8 score. But an 8-1 run at that stage set Fairfield up with a comfortable lead and the Stags coasted the rest of the way to a 25-15 win to close out the match at 3-1.
Up Next
The Stags conclude the regular season next weekend with matches at Saint Peter's and Rider on Nov. 11-12. First serve in both contests is slated for noon.
The MAAC Championship will be held at Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Nov. 17-19. More information will be announced when the six-team field is finalized at the close of the regular season.
This article created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
