Box Score 

JAMAICA, N.Y. -  Fairfield was left searching for its first win of the 2007 season as the Stags fell to the host Red Storm, 3-0 (23-30, 26-30, 24-30) this afternoon at the St. John's Invitational. With the loss, the Stags drop to 0-7 while the Red Storm, the defending Big East Regular Season Champions, improve to 6-1.

Senior Kelly Oliver (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) led the way for the Stags with 12 kills on .407 hitting along with six digs. Sophomore Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) also recorded double-digit kills with 10 on .444 hitting.

Senior Lauren Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Mount Carmel) was strong in the middle for the Stags, notching five kills on .444 hitting along with five total blocks. Senior Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) recorded 10 digs along with seven kills and three block assists. Junior Karlie Urbaniak (Canton, Minn./Mabel-Canton) chipped in with eight kills.

Fairfield came out strong in the first match, bursting out to a 4-1 lead to prompt an early St. John's timeout. The Stags continued to push as Mann made the score 7-3 with a kill to the right side. A kill by the Red Storm's Latoya Blunt cut the gap and capped off a 4-0 run by St. John's which tied the game at 7-7. The Red Storm pulled ahead 13-9 but a kill by Oliver briefly stopped the run. Down 16-11, the Stags outscored the Red Storm 5-2 to pull within two points. But St. John's rallied putting five unanswered points on the board to jump out to a 23-16 advantage. Fairfield did not back down taking advantage of several Red Storm errors to cut the gap to 26-23 but St. John's held on for the 30-23 win.

In the second frame, Fairfield found itself down early. Trailing 14-11, the Stags mounted a small run as Mann delivered a big kill to the middle followed by an ace by sophomore Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) to pull the Stags within a point. The Red Storm responded by going on a 7-3 run to go on top, 21-16. Fairfield continued to claw back as back-to-back blocks by the Stags and a kill by Lee pulled them within 22-20. An attack error by St. John's made it a one-point game, but the Red Storm fought off the Fairfield attack taking the 30-26 victory.

The final game was an exciting battle between the two squads. In the early going, Campbell put the Stags on top 6-5 with a kill followed by a solo block. Moments later, Campbell came up with a big block to make the score 8-6. The Stags extended their lead to 11-7 with consecutive blocks but the Red Storm moved within two points. Fairfield regrouped, going up by 15-10 on back-to-back kills by Oliver. St. John's got right back in it moving the score to 17-16 on a kill by Blunt but Oliver answered with a kill of her own. The Red Storm quickly tied the match, 18-18, on a Dana DeMayo kill to the back row while a Fairfield attack error gave St. John's the lead. Lee cut the gap to 23-22 with a kill but Casie Brooks returned the lead to a pair with a kill to the middle. The Red Storm closed out the match on a 7-2 run.

St. John's hit .269 for the match while Fairfield recorded a .214 attack percentage. Both teams had six blocks.

For the Red Storm, DeMayo recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs while Blunt posted 12 kills on .417 hitting. Brooks finished with 11 kills.

Thistle and senior Ashley Hanohano (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) split time at the setter position as Hanohano recorded 21 assists and five digs while Thistle posted 20 assists and seven digs. Defensively, sophomore Brandi Higa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Hawaii Baptist Academy) tallied 15 digs.

Fairfield (0-6) wraps up play at the St. John's Invitational this afternoon NJIT at 5 p.m.