EDISON, N.J. – Four Fairfield University greats have been selected to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 35th Anniversary Team for fall sports. Volleyball standout Joanne Saunders ’02 and women’s soccer star Ahna Johnson ’09 were recognized on the women’s teams, while men’s soccer stalwarts Michael O’Keeffe ’13 and Jim McElderry ’93 were tabbed for the men’s team.
Joanne Saunders – Fairfield volleyball’s all-time leader in kills with 1,799 – was named to the 35th Anniversary First Team. She patrolled the court for the Stag from 1998-2001, amassing a program-best 4,253 swings en route to a .252 hitting percentage while appearing in 443 sets over 132 matches at Fairfield. Defensively, Saunders racked up 1,254 digs (10th all-time) to stand as one of just six Stags with over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career – and one of only three to eclipse the 1,200 mark in both categories.
Saunders was lauded for her efforts as a First Team All-MAAC selection in three consecutive seasons from 1999-2001. She was the Most Valuable Player of the 2000 MAAC Championship as a part of three straight MAAC All-Championship honors (1998-2000) and was named AVCA All-Region in 2000 – making her the most recent (and perhaps only) MAAC player to earn the distinction.
Saunders’ dominance translated into team success as she was a starter for four MAAC Championship and NCAA postseason teams. The Stags went 120-26 overall and 35-1 in MAAC play with Saunders on the court. The 2000 club made MAAC history as the first – and still just one of two – conference teams to take a set in the NCAA postseason. She was inducted into the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
Arguably the best offensive player in program history, Ahna Johnson was tabbed to the 35th Anniversary Second Team. Johnson helped to elevate the Fairfield women’s soccer program back to its place as a consistent MAAC power as a standout for the team’s two most recent MAAC Championships.
Johnson’s best campaign came as a senior when she led the Stags to the 2008 MAAC crown. She netted a hat trick in the MAAC Championship Match against Loyola en route to her clear selection as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Johnson was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year in that season with 15 goals, which still ranks third in program history. She would also become the program’s first and thus far only All-American during that season as she led the team to a 15-5-3 overall record.
Off the pitch, Johnson was the first Stag to ever earn First Team CoSIDA Academic All-America laurels. The double major in Physics and Information Systems was the MAAC nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and was a finalized for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award.
On the men’s side, Michael O’Keeffe garnered a spot on the MAAC 35th Anniversary First Team. One of the premier goalkeepers in MAAC history, O’Keeffe was a First Team All-MAAC honoree in each of his four seasons between the posts from 2009-12. Also the 2011 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, he ranks fourth all-time at Fairfield with a 1.11 goals-against average and second in program annals with 19 career shutouts.
He helped lead Fairfield to the 2011 MAAC Championship, earning a slot on the MAAC All-Tournament Team as the Stags won the conference crown.
In addition to his dominance on Lessing Field, O’Keeffe represented his home nation of New Zealand in the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 OFC Nations Cup. He most recently played on the professional level for Team Wellington of New Zealand’s national association football league – ASB Premiership
Rounding out the honorees is 35th Anniversary Second Team selection Jim McElderry. The 1992 MAAC Player of the Year, McElderry remains among the Stags’ all-time leaders in goals (17) and total points (43) more than 20 years after he last took the pitch at Fairfield. His offensive statistics become more impressive when it’s noted that he spent part of his career as a member of the Stags’ defensive unit. He was a two-time First Team All-MAAC selection in 1991 and 1992 and earned a spot on the 1991 MAAC All-Tournament Team.
McElderry led the Stags to three consecutive MAAC postseason appearances, including trips to the MAAC Championship Match in both 1991 and 1992. He went on to serve as an assistant coach at Fairfield and was a part of a staff that led the Stags to four consecutive MAAC Championship Matches from 1999-2002. He also played professionally for the New York Fever, Long Island Rough Riders and New York Freedoms. He was inducted into the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
McElderry is currently the head men’s soccer coach at Fordham University. He guided the Rams to the 2014 Atlantic-10 Championship and the program’s first NCAA postseason berth since 1996.