FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball erased a 2-0 deficit and rallied all the way back to knock off Sacred Heart, 3-2, across town at the Pitt Center. The Stags took the Metro Conference decision by set scores of 18-25, 15-25, 26-24, 25-18, and 15-11.
With the win, the Stags improve to 3-0 in the Metro as a part of a 9-5 overall tally. Sacred Heart falls from the ranks of the conference unbeaten at 2-1 in league play and 9-6 overall. After tonight's conference slate, the Stags and Iona are two remaining teams with an unblemished conference record.
The Stags are 2-1 in five-set matches this season and 8-7 when a match goes five sets under Head Coach
Nancy Somera. Fairfield's "reverse sweep" tonight was the first since coming all the way back to beat St. John's, 3-2, on Sept. 7, 2022 in the RecPlex.
Thirteen Stags took the court in tonight's win, including eight to record at least one kill.
Mamie Krubally set the pace from the right side with 16 kills on .452 hitting.
Aislin Oldach added 13 kills and
Emma Bortolotti put down 12 to help fuel the attack. Oldach also had 12 digs to round out a double-double, while Bortolotti got a piece of seven Fairfield blocks.
Katelyn Cook turned in an all-around performance as the junior started the match in the libero jersey before switching to the pins. She finished the day with 11 kills on .321 hitting along with a team-best 13 digs.
In the middle,
Harlan Wyche controlled both sides of the net with seven kills at a .600 clip and 10 blocks. Wyche reached double-digit blocks for the second time this season, previously doing so in the win over Holy Cross on Sept. 5. She also served up two aces in set five and chipped in three digs.
Courtney Vines turned in the most productive outing of her young career, recording a kill as well as six blocks and her first career service ace.
The attack was managed by
Zofia Sykut, who was named Metro Conference Setter of the Week earlier in the day on Tuesday, and the debuting
Mary Kate Bradley. Sykut had 36 assists and seven digs in five sets of work. Bradley appeared in the final three sets of the day and posted 14 assists with four digs. The duo led Fairfield to .424 and .423 hitting in the match's final two sets, as Fairfield finished at an even .300 on the day.
In addition to Cook's 13 digs and Oldach's 12 from the back row,
Natalie Carlin also recorded a dozen digs. Led by the Wyche's 10, the Stags racked up 16 team blocks to limit Sacred Heart to a .213 team hitting percentage.
SHU's Lauren Hubert led all players with 18 kills and added 16 digs for the hosts.
Metro Conference play comes to Leo D. Mahoney Arena for the first time this weekend, when the Stags host Quinnipiac and Merrimack. The Friday, Oct. 2 meeting with the Bobcats will be televised live at 7 p.m. on SNY. First serve against Merrimack on Saturday, Oct. 3 is set for 4 p.m.
Admission is free for all fans to all Fairfield Volleyball home matches this season.
