FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The 42nd season of Fairfield University Volleyball opens this weekend as the Stags play three matches in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee. Fairfield challenges Morehead State on Aug. 28 and takes the court twice on Aug. 29 for meetings against Colgate and the host Lady Vols.
 
Live stats are available for all three matches, and the Stags' first-ever clash with #22 Tennessee will be broadcast live on SEC Network Plus. Tickets for the Saturday evening matchup with the Lady Vols are on sale now.
 
The Fairfield University Stags (2025: 25-6, 17-1 MAAC/Metro)

• Fairfield Volleyball welcomes back 12 student-athletes from the 2025 MAAC Championship campaign – the Stags' third straight conference crown.
• Mamie Krubally was selected as the Metro Conference Preseason Player of the Year. Krubally led the Stags in kills (2.91/set) last fall while hitting .303 from the right side to earn her second straight All-MAAC Second Team distinction.
• Emma Bortolotti – an All-Rookie Team pick in 2025 – joined Krubally on the Preseason All-Metro squad. She hit .295 from the right side on her way to 2.30 kills per set, adding 69 blocks to run her total to 271 points.
• Katelyn Cook is Fairfield's top returner in the back row, posting 2.77 digs per set in 2025.
• The Stags also welcome back one half of last fall's 6-2 offense in Sofia Zykut, who distributed 5.38 assists per frame. Zykut and Cook also shared the team high of 36 aces.
• Harlan Wyche resumes her post in the middle, where she racked up 126 blocks (team-high 1.21 per set) and put down 1.38 kills per set on .291 hitting. Wyche was the 2025 MAAC Championship MVP.
• Fairfield brings a class of seven newcomers into the fold for the 2026 season.
• The Stags graduated three student-athletes in May, all of whom played all 111 sets in 2025: Allie Elliott, Abby Jandro, and Maya Walker.
• Fairfield was selected first in the Metro Conference Preseason Poll, garnering 10 of 12 first-place votes.

 
The Morehead State University Eagles (2025: 23-9, 15-3 Ohio Valley)

• Morehead State shared the OVC Regular Season Championship in 2025 and made its second consecutive appearance in the OVC Title Game. The Eagles earned a berth to the NCAA postseason in 2024.
• MSU topped the 2026 OVC Preseason Poll with half of the conference's 18 first-place votes.
• The Eagles welcomed back three All-OVC performers: First Team setter Sydney Sennett, Second Team middle Amelia Nott, and Second Team outside hitter Hollan Everett.
• That trio was joined this summer by defensive specialist Courtney Fitzgerald and rookie pin hitter Ella Warrick on the OVC Volleyball Watch List.
• MSU graduated 2025 OVC Player of the Year M.E. Hargan, who averaged 4.61 kills per set for the Eagles.
• Morehead State won the only prior meeting between the Stags and Eagles. MSU took a 3-1 decision on Sept. 12, 2009 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

 
The Colgate University Red Raiders (2025: 18-10, 13-3 Patriot)

• Colgate saw its run of four consecutive Patriot League Championships come to an end in 2025. The Raiders finished as the second seed in last fall's conference tournament and fell to Army West Point in the semifinals.
• Colgate was picked second in the Patriot League Preseason Poll behind reigning champion and perennial contender American.
• The Raiders placed a pair of outside hitters on the Preseason All-PL Team: Milan Bayless and Tiana Owens. Colgate also welcomes back both of their rotational setters in seniors Deren Cukur and Ava Schabes.
• Fairfield is winless in seven meetings with Colgate dating back to 1992. The teams most recently clashed at Yale in 2024.

 
The #22 University of Tennessee Lady Vols (2025: 20-8, 10-5 SEC)

• An NCAA at-large qualifier last fall, Tennessee earned the fourth-seeded in the SEC Tournament – bowing out in the semifinals and then concluding the season with a 3-2 loss to Utah State in the NCC First Round.
• Tennessee was selected fifth of 16 teams in the SEC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Three-time All-America setter Caroline Kerr will enter her fifth year in Knoxville as the Lady Vols' lone Preseason All-SEC honoree.
• Middle blocker Chelsea Sutton is the Lady Vols' top returning hitter with 2.15 kills per set and a .362 hitting percentage from last season. The junior was also Tennessee's leader at the net in 2025 with 116 blocks in 100 sets of action.
• Saturday will mark the first meeting between Fairfield and Tennessee.
• The Stags will challenge a nationally ranked opponent in the regular season for the first time since visiting #16 BYU on opening weekend of the 2024 campaign.
• Fairfield's last match against an SEC opponent was an Aug. 28, 2021 encounter with Texas A&M in Hawai'i.

 
Up Next

• Fairfield Volleyball returns to the Northeast for three matches next weekend in Boston.
• The Stags head to Cambridge for a Friday, Sept. 4 clash at Harvard followed by two matches on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Northeastern – an 11 a.m. matchup with Holy Cross and a 5 p.m. showdown with the host Huskies.
• Fairfield will then play a pair of matches on Long Island on Sept. 11-12 before opening the home slate with the Fairfield Invitational at Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Sept. 17-19.