MADISON, Wis. – Fairfield University Volleyball closed out the 2024 season on Thursday evening in the NCAA Championship First Round at #7 Wisconsin. The Stags concluded their MAAC Championship campaign with a 3-0 loss to the host Badgers before a crowd of 6,050 fans at UW Field House in Madison.
The Stags end the season with a record of 21-12 bolstered by a 17-1 mark in their run to the 14th MAAC Championship and NCAA postseason appearance in program history. Fairfield also won its 23rd MAAC Regular Season Championship in the last 29 years.
"I'm pleased with the way our team went out and competed. We stayed aggressive, which was a big part of our game plan," said Head Coach
Nancy Somera. "Offensively, we found ways to get kills over and around that humongous block. We knew we had to keep our offense diversified and we had to serve tough, and I think we did all that. So overall, I'm happy with how we played tonight against one of the best teams in the country."
Mamie Krubally and Svenja Rodenbüsch paced Fairfield's attack with seven kills apiece. Rodenbüsch was also the Stags' leader with eight kills in the Stags' 2023 NCAA postseason appearance at Purdue.
Allie Elliott chipped in five kills and
Emma Beretich put down four on seven errorless swings. Supplementing the attack,
Maya Walker had three kills,
Janna Schlageter added two and
Mikayla Haut had one.
The offense was run by
Abby Jandro and
Blakely Montgomery with 11 and nine assists, respectively.
Defensively, Fairfield was led in the back row by eight digs for Rodenbüsch and five apiece by Jandro and
Noelle Carey.
Kyla Berg donned the libero jersey and had four digs, ending her career in sixth place all-time with 1,576 digs in five seasons as a Stag.
The Stags also registered four blocks against one of the nation's top offenses. Beretich had a hand in three rejections, including a solo block. Krubally posted a solo block of her own in a joust with reigning National Player of the Year Sarah Franklin and also got a piece of a rejection alongside Haut.
An Elliott service ace started the action and began a stretch of seven ties and five lead changes in the opening set. The final deadlock came at 8-8 on an Elliott kill before Wisconsin crept ahead 13-11 and then ran off a 5-0 run to build an 18-11 lead. Despite some late fire form the Stags, including two kills and a solo block by Krubally, that stretch from the Badgers ultimately put the frame out of reach as the hosts finished out a 25-16 decision.
The Stags weathered an early deficit in the second set, using back-to-back kills from Schlageter and Elliott to draw even at 7-7. But once again, the Badgers needed just one run to claim a lead they would not relinquish as Wisconsin won the next five points as a part of an 11-3 stretch that went through both Fairfield timeouts. The Stags earned late points on an Elliott kill and two finishers apiece for Rodenbüsch and Beretich to keep the pressure on, but the Badgers' lead proved insurmountable in another 25-16 stanza.
After the intermission, Fairfield fought its way out to a quick 5-4 lead before Wisconsin reeled off six in a row to gain the advantage. The Stags continued to spar with the Badgers but were unable to put together a sustained run as Wisconsin climbed toward match point and eventually iced the contest, 25-14, to complete the sweep.
The Badgers were led by All-America middle Anna Smrek with 14 kills on .684 hitting along with five blocks. Franklin added 12 kills at a .455 clip for Wisconsin.
The Badgers advance to play Georgia Tech, which claimed a five-set thriller from Tennessee earlier in the day, for a spot in next weekend's regional semifinal.
Fairfield Volleyball will bid farewell to seven players from the 2024 roster: seniors
Mikayla Haut,
Blakely Montgomery, Svenja Rodenbüsch and
Monica Vargo as well as graduate students
Kyla Berg,
Noelle Carey and
Janna Schlageter. All seven were a part of Fairfield's back-to-back MAAC Championships in 2023 and 2024. Berg, Carey, Haut and Montgomery were also members of the Stags' 2021 MAAC Championship squad.
