FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Fairfield University Volleyball used its best team hitting percentage in a dozen years to fuel an emphatic sweep of visiting Marist on Friday evening at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. The Stags took the 3-0 match by set scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-15.
The Stags' .443 hitting percentage marks their best single-match clip since hitting .481 in a 3-0 sweep of Hampton on Sept. 7, 2013. Fairfield last hit better than .443 in a MAAC contest on Sept. 29, 2007 – hitting .453 en route to a sweep of Loyola Maryland at Alumni Hall.
Winner of seven consecutive matches, Fairfield holds a 12-4 overall record and remains undefeated in conference play with a 6-0 mark in the MAAC. With Niagara's 3-2 loss tonight at Iona, the Stags are now the last team undefeated in MAAC play. Marist sees its five-match winning streak come to an end, slipping to 6-12 overall with a 4-2 conference record.
"It was good to see us running on all cylinders again," said Head Coach
Nancy Somera. "We got into a flow that we haven't seen in a few weeks, and the result was a very solid performance all the way around."
Allie Elliott led the high-octane attack with 11 kills on .500 hitting (11-1-20). On the opposite pin,
Mamie Krubally posted a .571 mark (10-2-14) and
Emma Bortolotti finished at .636 with seven kills on 11 errorless swings.
Harlan Wyche was also unblemished in the middle at .625 (5-0-8).
Rounding out Fairfield's 41 kills were
Katelyn Cook with five,
Maya Walker at two, and
Abby Jandro dumping over one from the setter spot.
Jandro and
Zofia Sykut were the engineers of the Fairfield offense, each finishing with 16 assists.
The Stags added six points from the service line, fueled by three aces by Cook. Elliott, Jandro, and
Natalie Carlin chipped in one winner apiece.
Defensively, libero
Delaney Moon led the way with 13 digs and Elliott rounded out a double-double with 11 from the back row. At the net, the MAAC's top blocking team added nine more send-backs to its tally. Wyche had a hand in five blocks, Krubally had four, and Walker and Elliott each got a piece of three stuffs.
Fairfield's defensive effort limited Marist to a .105 hitting percentage. Sara Dasic led Marist with 11 kills as the Red Fox to reach double figures.
The Stags wrap-up their home weekend tomorrow – Saturday, Oct. 11 – with a 4 p.m. visit from Siena. The Saints, who are in action at Sacred Heart on Friday evening, came to Connecticut with a record of 7-11 overall and 3-2 in MAAC action.
Admission is free for all fans to all Fairfield regular season home matches this season.
