Volleyball Clips Loyola 3-2
Nov 15, 2008
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Fairfield University volleyball team won its fourth straight match with a 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 21-25, 15-12) victory at Loyola College this afternoon. With the win, the Stags improve to 18-12 on the season and 15-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Sophomore Alex Lopez (Fort Collins, Colo.) and freshman Lauren Balmert (Cranberry Twp., Pa.) each had double-doubles on the day. Lopez tallied her 12th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 12 digs while Balmert posted her ninth double-double with 43 assists and 13 digs.
Junior Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif.) led the attack with 18 kills on .484 hitting in addition to three total blocks.
Defensively, senior Karlie Urbaniak (Canton, Minn.) tallied a match-high 16 digs while Freshman Haililani Pokipala (Honolulu, Hawaii) notched 14 digs. Senior Brandi Higa (Honolulu, Hawaii) chipped in with 11 digs.
It was a close contest throughout much of the first set. The Stags were hanging on to an 18-17 lead when back-to-back errors by Loyola (7-25; 3-14 MAAC) gave Fairfield all the momentum it needed as they closed the frame on a 7-1 run. The Stags came out strong in the second frame, opening up a 20-16 lead on a kill by Lauren Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif.). Fairfield then used a 5-2 to run to secure its second win of the day.
The Greyhounds bounced back taking the next two sets from the Stags. With the score knotted 16-16 in the third stanza, Loyola used a 6-1 run to gain some ground. Fairfield did not back down as Lopez pulled the Stags within 24-23 with a kill. The rally fell short as Karlee Woodward closed things out for Loyola with a kill. In the fourth set, Loyola used an early 5-0 run to take a lead in which it would not relinquish. Fairfield pulled within 20-19 on a kill by Hughes, but Loyola finished the set on a 5-2 run to even the match.
The Stags were trailing 10-9 in the fifth set when Kendal Dirkin (Oak Park, Ill.) put home a feed from Balmert to spark a 5-0 Fairfield run which was capped off by a Lopez kill. After a Stags service error returned the ball to the Greyhounds, Stasia Collins made it a 14-12 game with a kill. Mann answered with her 18th kill of the day to put the match away.
Fairfield hit a collective .238 while holding Loyola to an attack percentage of .185. The Greyhounds held an 11-6 advantage in blocks.
Fairfield concludes the regular season tomorrow, Nov. 16, by hosting Manhattan at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall.
