The women’s volleyball team staggered out of the gate to begin the MAAC season with a loss to Siena in the Saints’ hometown of Albany. But since that game, the volleyball team has not lost a single match.
The Stags took revenge on the Saints with a victory at Alumni Hall on Saturday to move into a first place tie in the conference. The Stags (16-10, 13-1 MAAC) have four regular season matches remaining before the post-season and need a Siena loss to win the regular season championship.
“I thought it was a great win,” said Head Coach C.J. Werneke. “There were moments we paid at a high level, but we have to work better on consistency.”
Fairfield was led by freshman Lauren Hughes, who had 20 kills and seven digs. Senior Kelly Oliver returned from injury and recorded a double-double with 19 kills and 19 digs. Sophomore Katie Mann added 18 kills, nine total blocks and a .424 hitting percentage.
Mann is second in the MAAC with a .384 hitting percentage on the season (minimum .200/3.0 attacks per game) and is ranked 26th in the nation in that category.
The Stags pulled out to a 14-11 lead in the first game of the match, but the Saints battled back to take a 22-19 lead. Fairfield did not back down and took a 29-26 lead. Siena came back once again to tie it, but with the score tied at 32-32, Oliver recorded a kill and senior Lindsey Lee finished the game with an ace.
Fairfield could not hold onto the lead in the match, falling 38-26 in the second game. The Stags bounced right back to dominate the Saints in game three with a 30-14 victory.
It was Siena’s turn for victory, defeating Fairfield 30-26 in game four.
The Stags battled back from a 8-5 deficit in game five to win the match with a 16-15 overtime.
“We are taking the season one opponent at a time,” Werneke said. “We are learning who we are and who we want to be every day in practice.”
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