Fairfield Volleyball Team to Participate in Crusader Classic

The Fairfield University Volleyball team heads to Worcester, Massachusetts for the All-New England ?Crusader Classic? this weekend for games against Brown (12 noon) and Bryant (5 pm) on Friday, September 2, and UMass Lowell (12 noon) and host Holy Cross (5:30 pm) on Saturday, September 3. The Stags will then finally make their 2016 home debut at the friendly confines of George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall on September 9-10 in the ?Fairfield Invitational.? The Stags will host Sacred Heart, James Madison and Villanova in the two-day, round-robin event. Last Saturday, Fairfield snapped its winless drought by sweeping Abilene Christian to earn its first win of the fall campaign. The Stags won the match by set scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-22. A double-double from Megan Theiller led the way in the UNM Invitational. The Stags won the match by set scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-22. Fairfield lost host New Mexico to conclude action at the UNM Invitational later that day. The Stags (1-3) fell to Idaho and Arizona State to open the tournament last Friday. ?This weekend consisted of many ups and down,? said the co-captain Theiller. ?There are always going to be bumps in the road, but what is most important is how we react as a team in these situations. I see this weekend as a learning experience for us, and I look forward to getting back to work in practice this week.? Against Abilene Christian: Theiller sent home 13 kills and a match-best 15 digs to round out her double-double. The Stags got a match-high 14 kills from Skyler Day, who narrowly missed her second consecutive double-double with nine digs in the three-set contest. Day and Theiller hit .278 and .276, respectively, on the outside. Megan O'Sullivan also reached double figures for the Stags, pounding home 10 kills on .467 hitting (10-3-15). Sydney Williams and Oyinkansola Akinola each added five kills, and Nora Quinn notched one in her first appearance of 2016. The offense was run through setters Sydney Buckley and Manuela Nicolini. Buckley handed out 25 assists with four digs, while Nicolini dished out 14 assists and chipped in with five digs. The setting tandem coordinated the Fairfield attack to the tune of a .252 hitting percentage. Defensively, Mallory Bechtold picked up 12 digs from the libero spot, and Taylor Rudeen chipped in with the five. Buckley, Williams, O-Sullivan, Akinola and Nicolini each had a hand in one of Fairfield-s three total team blocks. Day represented Fairfield on the All-Tournament Team after averaging 4.00 kills and 2.38 digs in 13 sets of action. The 2016 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year added three blocks and a service ace during the weekend. Against New Mexico: Day-s dozen kills led all players. The Fairfield offense was supplemented by six finishers from Theiller, four from Megan O'Sullivan and three apiece off the swings of Oyinkansola Akinola and Mayda Garcia. Rounding out the attack were Sydney Williams with two kills and Sydney Buckley and Kaitlyn Fisher with one apiece. Buckley dished out 10 assists from the setter spot, and Manuela Nicolini handed out 19 helpers. Nicolini picked up a team-leading five digs to aid the defensive effort. Also in the back row, Day and Theiller each had four digs against the high-powered New Mexico offense, with Buckley and Taylor Rudeen registering three apiece. ?We-re grateful for the opportunity to come out to New Mexico and compete, and now we will shift our focus to improving both physically and mentally moving forward,? added co-captain Megan O'Sullivan.