Box Score 

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University volleyball team opened play at home in a big way with a decisive 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-18) victory against Canisius College in front of a raucous crowd at Alumni Hall. With the win, the Stags improve to 3-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and 6-9 overall while the Griffs fall to 3-11on the season and 1-2 in the conference.

Senior Kelly Oliver (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla), the reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, paced the stellar Fairfield attack with a match-high 17 kills, on .324 hitting, along with eight digs and four block assists.

Senior Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) and sophomore Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) each added 11 kills on .500 hitting. Lee also chipped in with nine digs while Mann had three block assists. Sophomore Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) recorded a double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs.

Fairfield posted an impressive .405 attack percentage while Canisius hit just .157 on the day. The Stags committed just nine attack errors in 111 total attempts. Fairfield also held a 6-1 advantage in blocks.

Fairfield clung to a 6-5 lead at the start of the opening game. The Stags then went on a 5-0 run to quickly push the score to 11-5 on a kill by Lee. Fairfield continued to roll as Oliver made the score 14-8 with a slam to the left side. That was all the breathing room the Stags needed as a .471 attack percentage powered them to a 30-23 win.

The Stags controlled from almost the start in game two opening up a 19-9 gap on a kill by junior Karlie Urbaniak (Canton, Minn./Mabel-Canton). The Stags never looked back, taking the 30-16 win. Fairfield hit .419 for the game with 19 kills and just one attack error in 43 total attempts.

Thistle served the first four points of the final game to give Fairfield an early lead. Canisius clawed back tying the score 6-6 on a Stags attack error. With the score tied 9-9, Fairfield used a 6-1 run to gain some ground on the Griffs. The Stags would control the rest of the way, as Thistle served six unanswered points to close out the match for the 30-18 win.

Freshmen Lauren Wagner (Eagan, Minn./Cretin-Derham) and Alex Lopez (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) also played well for the Stags as Wagner posted seven kills and three total blocks while Lopez had eight digs.

For Canisius, rookie Renee Lettow tallied a team-high 13 kills while Nicole Farfard was also in double figures with 12 digs. Jess Stackhouse, the 2006 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, had nine digs.

Fairfield continues conference play tomorrow, Sept. 23, against Niagara at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall