FAIRFIELD, Conn. – For the third consecutive season, Fairfield University Volleyball is the champion of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The top-seeded Stags swept third-seeded Rider at Leo D. Mahoney Arena to raise the MAAC Championship Trophy for the 15th time in program history.
Fairfield's "three-peat" is the first in the MAAC since the Stags won three in a row from 2015-17. The Stags also previously won five straight from 1997-2001. Fairfield's 15 MAAC Championships and upcoming 15th NCAA postseason appearance are both conference records.
Despite the 3-0 final, today's match was not a traditional sweep, as the Stags erased significant deficits in each of the first two frames. Fairfield trailed 20-14 in set one, also fighting off a Rider set point in the stanza, to take a 26-24 decision.
In the second set, after trailing by as many as four points, the Stags used an 8-0 run that featured five
Katelyn Cook service aces to surge in front and take the 25-18 victory.
With the championship within sight, Fairfield rolled in set three, opening up a 10-5 lead and never looking back en route to a 25-12 win and a 3-0 match victory.
"We talk about being 'way finders'. When things aren't working or we're struggling with our execution, we just find a way to keep moving forward to get back on track," said Head Coach
Nancy Somera. "I'm so proud of this group for how they kept their composure, kept fighting, and brought it home."
Harlan Wyche was named the MAAC Championship MVP after putting down 10 kills on .643 hitting with nine blocks in the weekend wins over Canisius and Rider. She was joined on the All-Championship Team by
Mamie Krubally (17 kills, .367) and
Maya Walker (8 kills, 14 blocks).
In today's championship, Krubally paced the Fairfield attack with nine kills on .313 hitting from the right side. Wyche and
Allie Elliott pitched in six kills apiece, and the trio of
Emma Bortolotti,
Katelyn Cook, and
Maya Walker each had five. The Stags were guided to a .225 hitting percentage by the setting duo of
Abby Jandro and
Zofia Sykut with 18 and 10 assists, respectively.
Fairfield also matched a season-high in service aces with 13, fueled by Cook's five in the second set.
Delaney Moon added three winners, Wyche and Sykut dropped in two apiece, and Elliott scored once from beyond the endline. Fairfield previously served up 13 aces in the 3-1 win over Quinnipiac in September; the last time the Stags needed only three sets to land 13 aces came in a 3-0 win at Manhattan in 2007.
Defensively, Moon and Sykut led the back row with nine digs apiece, while Jandro notched eight and Elliott had seven. At the net, Walker followed up her 10-block performance in Saturday's semifinal with a hand in four of the Stags' eight rejections. Wyche got a piece of three Fairfield blocks, with Elliott, Cook, and Krubally each playing a part in two rejections.
Rider was led by MAAC Player of the Year Kiannisha Santiago with nine kills and seven digs.
The tournament was held at Fairfield's Leo D. Mahoney Arena for the second time in the venue's three-year history. The Stags previously won the MAAC Championship at home in the inaugural season of the arena in 2023. Today's championship match drew a crowd of 910.
"It was a goal to win the regular season to have the chance to play for a championship in Mahoney Arena in front of our home fans, who were awesome today," said Somera, who has won the MAAC Championship in all three of her seasons leading the Stags.
"Mahoney Arena delivered an incredible atmosphere for this year's MAAC Volleyball Championship final," said MAAC Commissioner Travis Tellitocci. "Having the top seed host each round for the first time in MAAC history brought an energy that elevated the entire tournament and allowed our institutions' fans to create a great environment for our student-athletes."
The Stags will enter the NCAA postseason with a record of 25-5. Fairfield went 17-1 in the conference regular season to win the 24th MAAC Regular Season Championship in program history. Including this weekend's tournament, the Stags went 11-0 against MAAC foes at home and are 31-0 against MAAC opponents all-time at Mahoney Arena.
Fairfield will learn its opponent and destination for the 2025 NCAA Championship First Round when the 64-team bracket is revealed on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
