One of the goals this season for the Fairfield University women’s volleyball was to win the drive for five consecutive MAAC titles and NCAA tournament berths. They were able to accomplish both of these goals.
Another goal the team had was to try and win a NCAA tournament game. The only thing that stood in the way of this goal was Penn State.
The Stags knew that had an uphill climb if they were going to upset the Nittany Lions on their home court. Penn State has never lost a home NCAA tournament match in State College, a perfect 23-0 coming into the game.
Fairfield would be the next victim for the Lions. On Saturday, the women’s volleyball team gave Penn State everything they had left in the tank for the season in hopes of playing another game this year, but fell short.
“Penn State has been unbeatable here in the NCAA tournament, and we were hoping that would change tonight,” said Fairfield head coach Mitch Jacobs.
Fairfield jumped out to an early lead in the first game of the match as they lead 5-2. Penn State would rally later in the game and lead the rest of the way winning the first game 30-21.
Penn State would jump out to an early 6-0 lead in the second game. The Stags would surge back into the game, making the score 29-22. The Red and White would fight off two game points, until Penn State finally broke Fairfield and won the game 30-22.
Trailing 2-0 in the best of five game match, Fairfield knew they would have to win this game to stay alive. The Stags and the Lions traded points until the score was knotted at 13-13. Fairfield would jump on top as they recorded three out of the next four points and held the lead at 15-13. Penn State head coach Russ Rose would use a timeout to get his back on the right track.
Penn State and Fairfield would swap points back and forth until the game was tied at 21-21. The Nittany Lions then outscored the Stags 9-3 to secure the game to clinch the match.
“They didn’t make mistakes and we made a ton,” said Jacobs.
The loss closed out terrific careers for the seniors as they won the MAAC championship every year and made an NCAA appearance every year. Senior Co-Captains Joanne Saunders and Meghan Mahaffy finished their careers in a big way on Saturday with Saunders making seven kills and Mahaffy recording 36 assists.
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