FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball played to a deadlock with visiting West Virginia deep into all three sets of Friday evening's matchup at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. However, the Big 12's Mountaineers were the squad to break the late ties to claim a 3-0 decision by set scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-22.
Allie Elliott recorded a double-double for the Stags with 10 kills and 11 digs.
With the setback, the Stags slip to 2-9 on the season. Fairfield opens MAAC play next weekend on the heels of challenging seven teams to date that finished 2023 with a top 100 RPI. The slate has also featured four 2023 conference champions (High Point, Southeastern Louisiana, Colgate and Yale) and five 2023 NCAA postseason qualifiers (the aforementioned four plus nationally-ranked BYU).
"We set out to challenge ourselves in the non-conference season, and we certainly have done that. We have competed well and learned a lot about ourselves against some very difficult competition," said Head Coach
Nancy Somera. "This week was another week where we showed improvement against high major opponents, going to five sets at St. John's and playing three close sets tonight against West Virginia. We are battle tested heading into conference play, and we will continue to work and improve as we get into the next phase of our season."
In tonight's match, the three sets were tied as late as 19-19, 22-22, and 18-18. Each time, it was West Virginia (5-5) that put together the deciding stretch that broke the stalemate to close out the straight set win.
Elliott's 10 kills came on .400 hitting (10-2-20) on the outside.
Mamie Krubally had eight kills from the right side at a .263 clip (8-3-19), and
Emma Beretich put down six kills on eight errorless swings (.750) against her former squad. As a unit, the Stags hit .250 for the match. The attack was managed by the duo of
Abby Jandro and
Blakely Montgomery with 20 and 16 assists, respectively.
On the defensive side,
Kyla Berg led all players with 16 digs donning the Fairfield libero jersey. Elliott added her 11 to wrap up her third double-double of the fall.
Noelle Carey also spent time in the libero spot and notched three digs. Carey and Montgomery also both chipped into the score with one service ace apiece.
At the net, the Stags tallied five blocks. Beretich and
Mikayla Haut each got a piece of three rejections, with
Maya Walker and
Janna Schlageter each contributing to a pair of sendbacks.
West Virginia got a match-best 15 kills on .394 hitting from Cassidy Tanton. Maddy McGath was a force in the middle for the Mountaineers with 12 kills on 15 swings (12-1-15, .733) as well as a match-leading five blocks. WVU hit .328 collectively in the contest.
The Stags kick off the MAAC slate next weekend with trips to Iona and Manhattan – their only meeting with either squad on the 2024 schedule. The Gaels are 2-9 on the season after falling to St. John's and defeating Bryant today in Queens. The Jaspers have a weekend off before welcoming NJIT to Draddy Gymnasium next Tuesday prior to hosting Sacred Heart and Fairfield to begin MAAC play.
Action returns to Mahoney Arena in the following week as the Stags host Sacred Heart on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and then entertain Quinnipiac and Merrimack on Oct. 5-6.
