WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Fairfield University Volleyball fought off two Army West Point match-point opportunities in the fourth set of Friday's season opener and carried the momentum into the fifth frame to seal a 3-2 win. The Stags took the match by set scores of 25-20, 17-25, 14-25, 27-25 and 15-7.
Fairfield (1-0) was tabbed for the third in the MAAC Preseason Poll. The Stags boast seven returners from the team that won its fourth consecutive MAAC Regular Season Title in 2022, and added seven newcomers into the fold this fall. Army West Point (0-1) ranked second in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, graduating only one senior from a club that went 14-2 in the Patriot last season.
The Stags were led by a double-double from Mikayla Haut, who registered 15 kills and 13 digs on the day. Maya Walker also added six kills on .429 hitting and had a hand in six of Fairfield's eight team blocks. Also the defensive end, Allie Elliott chipped in for with 15 digs and Kyla Berg notched 14 from the libero spot. In total, five Stags reached double-digit digs with Haut posting along with 10 apiece for Noelle Carey and Abby Jandro.
Jandro notched a double-double of her own with a team-best 20 assists to go along with her 10 digs.
"That was long, grueling test for two teams that haven't played a regular season match since November," said Head Coach Nancy Somera. "There was a point in the third set where we were down big and could have mentally checked out and moved on to tonight's match. But I'm proud of the way that we stayed focused and continued to fight for each point. I think once we did that, we put the pressure back on Army and were able to capitalize on that to come all the way back to win. We went 12 players deep, and all 12 played a part in this victory."
The win comes in Somera's Fairfield debut. The coaching veteran took the helm of the Stags this past fall after previously leading the programs at Oregon State and South Carolina, and most recently developing Johnson & Wales into a national Division III powerhouse.
Five Stags made their Fairfield debut in today's opener: Elle Shult, Svenja Rodenbüsch, Janna Schlageter, Mamie Krubally and Daniella Suarez.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Stags opened up an early lead, winning the first set by a count of 25-20. After falling behind 3-0, the Stags bounced back to take a 5-4 advantage and never looked back to grab the 1-0 advantage in the contest.
SET 2 | Army was off to another 3-0 start in the second frame, this time building that advantage to a commanding 11-4 count. The Stags ran off five straight at that juncture to cut the margin to 11-9, but never pulled even as the Black Knights leveled the match at 1-1.
SET 3 | In the third frame, it was the Stags who notched the early 3-0 lead, but the Black Knights responded with a nine-point run to build a quick lead and cruise the rest of the way to a 25-14 victory in the set and 2-1 advantage in the match.
SET 4 | After 11 ties and five lead changes, Fairfield evened the match at 2-2 with a 27-25 set four win. The Stags twice erased a Black Knight match point opportunity, finishing off the stanza with a Walker kill to set the contest to a deciding fifth set.
SET 5 | One run made the difference in Set 5, as the Stags broke a 6-6 tie with eight straight points to bring the contest all the way to match point at 14-6. Walker had a kill and two blocks during the 8-0 run, with Haut adding the exclamation point with her 15th kill to set the 15-7 victory and the 3-2 triumph.
Today's match was the first of three for the Stags at the Army Invitational. Fairfield will challenge in-state foe CCSU at 5 p.m. tonight and closes the tournament against Cal at noon on Saturday. The Blue Devils and Golden Bears are yet to open their respective campaigns as of this writing.
This article created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
