Volleyball concluded their difficult season-opening non-conference schedule last week, coming up short in two competitive affairs with high major opponents St. John’s and West Virginia. The losses drop the defending MAAC Conference Champions to 2-9 on the year, with the majority of those missteps coming against fellow reigning conference champions and other high major programs.
Game One: Vs. St. John’s
The Stags began their week on Wednesday with a trip to Queens to take on the Red Storm, who last year were runners-up in the Big East Conference tournament. The home team got out to a hot start, putting away 17 kills on .361 hitting to take the opening set 25-22.
The script would flip, however, in the next two frames, as the Stags found their rhythm defensively and made life hard for opposing hitters. Bolstered by a season-high 16 team blocks, Fairfield would keep the Red Storm below .200 hitting in each of the four remaining sets, including a .029 mark in a convincing third set win.
“The big thing for us is the communication between our front row and our back row,” said graduate libero Kyla Berg. “We really have to play off of each other… it’s about communication and working together to make sure we cover the whole court.”
The evidence was present on the stat sheet for the Stags. Middle blocker Maya Walker ‘26 led the front row for the Stags with a game-high eight rejections, followed by right side hitter Mamie Krubally ‘27 with seven and middle blocker Emma Beretich ‘27 with six.
Berg paced the back row with 22 digs, with setter Abby Jandro ‘26 adding eight of her own.
The defensive counterpunch from the Stags powered them to a 2-1 set advantage after three. The fourth set was a back and forth affair, with neither team opening a lead of greater than two points until the Red Storm used a five out of six stretch to take another 25-22 decision.
That set the stage for just the second five set affair of the year for Fairfield, who came out on the losing end against Yale last week in a match that went the distance.
“Five set matches can be strenuous,” said outside hitter Mikayla Haut ‘25, “but they’re what we train for, and we lean on each other when it gets difficult.”
The Stags continued to maintain their defensive pressure, registering four of their blocks in the shortened final frame, but a handful of late errors proved costly as the Red Storm took the set and the match with a 15-12 win.
Offensively, Haut took charge for Fairfield with a team best 12 kills and three service aces, supplemented by outside hitter Allie Elliott ‘26 with eight kills. Setter Blakely Montgomery ‘25 tallied 21 assists, with Jandro adding 18.
Game Two: Vs. West Virginia
The Stags then returned home to Leo D. Mahoney Arena for a quick Friday afternoon turnaround to host the Mountaineers. The match was, in many ways, a microcosm of the season so far for Fairfield, who has consistently gone blow for blow with high-level opponents before just falling short in the end.
The Stags played their adversary to a tie at 19-19, 22-22, and 18-18 in each respective set, but each time became the victim of a late West Virginia run.
“I think we just need to be a little more disciplined in certain areas,” Berg said of the team’s late set struggles. “We got caught up on some of the small stuff, like communication errors, so I think just being more disciplined as a team will get us further.”
Elliott turned in the standout performance for the Stags, notching a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Jandro took the lead at the setter position with 20 assists, and Berg once again set the standard defensively with 16 digs.
The loss to the Mountaineers served as the culmination of a frustrating but still encouraging first month of the season for Fairfield. Often positioned as the underdog in a difficult schedule that included teams like nationally ranked Brigham Young University and defending Patriot League champion Colgate, the Stags took at least one set in all but three losses and consistently pushed their opponents deep into each frame.
“Our coach purposely made a really difficult schedule because we do have pretty much our entire roster coming back,” Berg said. “I think these games helped us realize that we still have a lot to accomplish and a lot to get better at despite our success last year.”
The Stags’ spot as defending champions will provide some extra motivation for their opponents as they gear up for the conference section of their schedule. But with all they’ve learned from the season so far, they come in battle-tested and ready for the challenge.
“Our team recognizes the situation we’re in and we are focusing on playing our style of volleyball regardless of what is thrown our way,” Haut said. “We know we will have a target on our back, but we have to worry about our side of the net and perform to the best of our ability.”
The quest for a repeat will begin in earnest this Saturday when the Stags travel to New Rochelle to take on Iona in their conference opener. First serve is set for 1 P.M.
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