After a winless trip to Hawaii, the Fairfield women’s volleyball team returned home to begin Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play, defeating St. Peter’s at Alumni Hall.
“We need to realize that we are a very talented team, and the only team that can get in our way [of a MAAC championship] is ourselves,” said Head Coach Jeff Werneke after the St. Peter’s game.
It seems that the team has realized its collective talent as it is now 9-0 in the MAAC, without a loss since the Hawaii tournament trip. The Stags’ nine-game winning streak is tied with the 2004 team for the sixth highest in school history.
This weekend was another successful one for the Stags, who played two MAAC home matches, sweeping both Marist and Iona 3-0. Both matches featured record performances from the Stags, as Lindsey Lee ’08 recorded her 1000th dig and 1000th kill in the Marist game.
Werneke praised Lee after the Marist game.
“She’s been a consistent factor all year. I think everyone in our conference knows she is one of the top players, if not the best,” Wernecke said.
Freshman Barbie Thistle had a record performance against Iona as she recorded nine service aces – the second highest single game total in Fairfield history. Thistle was awarded the MAAC Rookie of the Week Award for her performance against both teams. She has now received the award for two straight weeks and four times this season. Thistle also recorded 42 assists in the Iona match and leads the conference in that category with 12.21 per game.
A third Stag also moved onto the leader boards; senior Natalie Barba recorded two block assists in the Iona match to move into a second place tie on the all-time list with 264 in her career.
The Stags started slow in both games, overcoming a 15-14 deficit in the first game of the Marist match to win 30-26, and recovered from an 11-10 deficit against Iona to win 30-22. Both of those slow starts were reversed through big runs from the Stags, as they went on an 11-2 run against Marist and an 11-4 run against Iona.
“We started game one a little sluggish in both matches; we were uninspired and flat,” said Werneke. “But we woke up midway through the game and played the ball we expect to play every game.”
Fairfield won both of the second games easily, but struggled in the third games of each match. The third game of the Iona match went into extended points and the Stags won 36-34.
The Stags were one point away from losing the third game against Iona when Lee, who had returned to the game, scored three straight kills to tie the game at 29. The Stags and the Gaels went back and forth until a kill from Karlie Urbaniak ’09 put the Stags up 35-34, and a block from Thistle ended the game for a 36-34 Stags win.
“In the past we would have lost this game. But we are used to having to play tough games; we have played top teams like Hawaii and Northwestern and gone into extended games with them, and we know what it takes to execute at the end,” added Werneke.
Lee agreed: “It was an up and down match. We didn’t play to our full potential; we were out of system a lot, but at the end we fought back and showed our character as we got the win.”
Lee believes that the rest of the season will be tough, as it is the first time in MAAC history that each team will have to play each other twice.
“It is tougher now because every team knows each other well,” Lee added. “Shots that we might have been able to make in the first game might not work in the second. It will be tougher to win a second game against the MAAC teams.”
Fairfield hits the road for its next four MAAC games, playing Canisius on Oct. 21 in Buffalo, N.Y. Fairfield beat Canisius 3-1 at Alumni Hall on Oct. 1.
Leave a Reply