Fairfield volleyball has moved one step closer to defending their conference championship from last season, guaranteeing at least a share of the regular season title after a pair of wins in their final home games last weekend.
The Stags will claim the title outright and lock up the number one seed in next week’s conference tournament with a victory over either Rider or St. Peter’s this Saturday and Sunday.
“Clinching a share of the regular season title is huge,” said outside hitter Allie Elliott ‘26. “Fairfield has always had a successful volleyball program, and it’s important that we keep that tradition going.”
In fact, this year is the 23rd time in the last 29 seasons that the Stags have earned at least a share of the MAAC regular season crown. The team got over the hump with consistent resiliency and a number of timely runs against two quality conference opponents in Canisius and Niagara.
Beginning with the Golden Griffins on Saturday, the Stags cruised to a first set win before things started to tighten up significantly in the later sets. It took a 9-3 closing run, bolstered by great serving from graduate libero Noelle Carey, for the Stags to overcome a late deficit and steal the second frame.
Then in the third, the Stags faced an even steeper deficit at 22-16. But with three kills each from Elliott and graduate outside hitter Janna Schlageter, Fairfield won 10 of the next 12 points to claim a 26-24 set win that put the match on ice.
“This part of the season is about finding ways to win, and today we won set two despite hitting .051 and we won set three after trailing 22-16,” head coach Nancy Somera told fairfieldstags.com after the game. “Of course, we’ll continue to work and improve, but at the end of the day, we just need to keep our intensity up and keep believing in each other and finding ways to win.”
The victory had some extra meaning to the Stags, who celebrated their Senior Day in the penultimate home contest of the season. Schlageter, setters Blakely Montgomery and Monica Vargo and outside hitters Mikayla Haut and Svenja Rodenbüsch were all honored in the pre-game ceremony alongside their families. A special shoutout was also given to Carey and fellow graduate libero Kyla Berg, who had their formal ceremony last year.
The Stags returned to the court Sunday afternoon for the home finale against Niagara. In a matchup that went four sets in the previous meeting last month, the team again received a strong challenge from the Purple Eagles.
After winning the first set 25-18, the Stags dropped the second set 25-17, with six Niagara blocks limiting them to a set-wide hitting percentage of zero.
“Niagara puts up a great block, and I think the turning point in the match is when our hitters made the adjustments that they needed to work around that,” Somera told fairfieldstags.com.
Those adjustments came from the moment the third set began, as the Stags hit .383 across the final two frames to take another 3-1 win over the Purple Eagles. Right side hitter Mamie Krubally ‘27 paced the offense with 16 kills, supplemented by 13 from Elliott.
“We knew the second set against Niagara wasn’t our best volleyball, and we just needed a little reset,” Elliott said. “We stayed patient and focused on the little things. We knew staying aggressive and having lots of energy was going to help us turn things around.”
Now, the Stags are readying for one last road trip to close out their regular season, this time to New Jersey to take on Rider and St. Peter’s. Fairfield defeated both opponents when they came to Mahoney Arena three weeks ago, and is ready to do it again to take hold of the conference title on their own.
“Over the course of the season, we’ve become more disciplined and have learned how important it is for us to trust each other,” Elliott said. “We’ve learned to stay focused and be patient which has helped our overall mental toughness… I’m excited to see how we continue to build on this momentum as we finish the regular season and head into the MAAC Tournament.”
First serve against Rider is set for 1 P.M. on Saturday afternoon. Fans can tune in to the game on ESPN+.
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