The Fairfield University women’s volleyball team (21-4, 16-5 MAAC) had an exciting weekend despite splitting it evenly with a notch in each column. With a disappointing loss on Saturday, Nov. 16 to Canisius College (14-15, 11-6 MAAC) and a win on Sunday, Nov. 17 over Niagara University (13-15, 12-6 MAAC), the Stags have been placed in the one seed for next weekend’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.
In a five set match, the Stags fell short on Saturday to Canisius, losing 3-2 in terms of sets. Winning set one 28-26 and set three 25-19, Fairfield and Canisius were tied 2-2 going into the last set. However, the Stags fell short, losing that set 15-10.
Fairfield was led in the match by Laura Seeger ‘22 who had 22 kills, and Joelle Battles ‘23 and Julia Kallen ‘22 who had 14 kills apiece. First-year Morgan Doll, Jamie Calandro ‘20 and Sonja Radulovic ‘20 each contributed defensively with 34, 13 and 12 digs respectively. Seeger led the team in points for the match with 22, followed by Battles with 15.5 and Kallen with 15.
Canisius was led by Ella Louissa who had 19 kills, Bree Long who has 27 blocks and Hannah Nelson who had 15 points.
On Sunday, the Stags game play lead to a much more rewarding outcome. Although they had won three consecutive sets, the Stags defeat over Niagara did not come easily. In all three sets, both teams were incapable of gaining a significant lead, making every set a nail-biter. Fairfield won the first set 25-23, the second 25-22 and the third 25-21.
The Stags were led offensively by Battles, Luci Albertson ‘21 and Kaylie Butts ‘21 who had 12, 9 and 9 kills respectively. Seeger and Battles led the team in points with 13 each and Albertson contributed with 11.5 and Butts with 9.5. Defensively, Fairfield was led by Calandro with 11 digs, Manuela Nicolini ‘20 with 9 digs and Radulovic who had 8.
Niagara was led by Caroline Leitch who had 9 points, Jaycie Roberts who had 7 digs and Cameron Maris who had 4 blocks.
Fairfield is now 22-5 on the season and are 17-1 in the MAAC. The Stags will compete in MAAC Championship tournament on Saturday, Nov. 23 and Sunday, Nov. 24. Their first game will be played on Nov. 23 against the winner of the match between Niagara and Marist, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 22.
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