RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Fairfield University Volleyball used late rallies in the first and second sets to power past host Manhattan, 3-0, in Friday night MAAC action at Draddy Gymnasium.
Emma Bortolotti paced the Stags' attack with 15 kills as Fairfield picked up the win by scores of 25-23, 26-24, and 25-22.
With the victory, Fairfield improves to 16-1 in the MAAC and claims a share of the MAAC Regular Season Championship for the seventh consecutive season and the 20th time in the last 30 years of MAAC Volleyball. The Stags (22-5 overall) can claim the outright crown and top seed for next weekend's MAAC Championship with a win tomorrow at Iona or a Quinnipiac (15-2 MAAC) loss at Canisius.
Manhattan fell to 4-23 overall and 2-15 in the MAAC with tonight's setback.
Bortolotti's 15 kills came on .524 hitting from the right side. Also on the pins,
Katelyn Cook hammered 13 kills at a .440 clip and
Allie Elliott put down eight while hitting .300.
Fairfield's middle hitting duo of
Maya Walker and
Harlan Wyche was errorless on the offensive side of the action, with Walker posting six kills on .500 hitting and Wyche finishing three of her four swings for a .750 mark.
In total, the Stags hit a torrid .373 on the day. The attack was managed via 31 assists from
Zofia Sykut and eight by
Abby Jandro.
Delaney Moon chipped in five helpers from the libero spot.
Fairfield supplemented the attack with 11 points from beyond the end line. Sykut accounted for four of the Stags' aces, with two apiece served up by Elliott, Wyche, and Jandro.
Elliott also guided the back row defense with 10 digs. At the net, Bortolotti, Walker, and
Mamie Krubally each had a hand in two of Fairfield's five blocks.
Manhattan's offense nearly kept pace with the Stags, turning in a .340 hitting mark for the match. Hanna Kaczynska hit .650 on her way to 14 kills as well as a team-leading seven digs. Katie Powers put down seven finishers on .545 hitting and got a piece of five Jaspers' blocks.
The Stags trailed by as many as five points at 18-13 in the first set. After a Manhattan attack error gave serve back to Fairfield, Sykut ripped off all four of her aces consecutively to promptly knot the frame at 18-18. The Jaspers would regain the lead four more times in the set, including a 23-21 advantage, before Fairfield ran off the frame's final four points to take the 25-23 win.
Set two again saw the Jaspers playing from in front, this time all the way to set point at 24-21. But Fairfield once again had the response, beginning with an Elliott kill. After a Jaspers' attack error, Cook put down back-to-back kills and then Walker hammered home set point to put the match to 2-0 in favor of the Stags with a 26-24 victory.
In the third and final frame, it was Fairfield that built an early lead. While the Stags never pulled away, they kept the Jaspers at bay and steadily climbed closer to match point. That tally came in the form of Bortolotti's 15th kill to ice the 25-22 stanza and the 3-0 final.
The Stags will wrap up the regular season tomorrow – Saturday, Nov. 15 – at Iona at 2 p.m. The Gaels enter their season finale at 11-20 overall and 6-11 in the MAAC after a five-set win – squashing a near "reverse sweep" – over Sacred Heart.
