Sept. 30, 2006
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Juniors Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) and Jazmin Pa'akaula (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) each posted double-doubles to help Fairfield to a 3-0 (30-22, 30-13, 30-15) victory against Niagara this evening in Alumni Hall. With the victory, the Stags remain undefeated in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with a 4-0 mark and move to 7-6 overall while the Purple Eagles fall to 2-10 on the year and 0-5 in the conference.
Lee posted her eighth double-double of the season with a match-high 12 kills along with 16 digs. Lee, who also added three total blocks, hit .385 on the night. Pa'akaula tallied 11 kills and 12 digs while hitting .476.
Junior Lauren Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Mount Carmel) had an outstanding night for the Stags with eight kills, a .500 attack percentage and a match-high four total blocks. Sophomore Brandi Higa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Hawaii Baptist Academy) tallied 12 digs while setter Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) had 34 assists, six digs and four kills.
The Stags' defense shined holding the Purple Eagles' attack to a .024 hitting percentage. It is the fourth-straight match in which Fairfield has held an opponent to an attack percentage under .100. The Stags also held a 54-42 advantage in digs while out-blocking Niagara, 8-5.
The opening game was a close battle with 10 ties and eight lead changes. With the score knotted 12-12, Karlie Urbaniak (Canton, Minn./Mabel-Canton) gave the Stags the lead with one of her six kills on the night. Higa then stepped to the line and served four-straight points to put Fairfield on top 17-12. The Purple Eagles clawed back pulling within 21-19 on a kill by Maurin Lawrence but the Stags went on a 9-2 run to close the game.
Fairfield trailed early in game two, but the Stags roared back from a 4-2 deficit to outscore Niagara, 28-9, the rest of the way for the victory. The Stags had 16 kills and just one error in 33 total attempts.
The Stags opened up an 8-1 lead behind services by Higa to start game three and never looked back. Fairfield hit .457 with 18 kills in the final frame while the Purple Eagles hit -.043 for the game.
For Niagara, Raelean Rush led the way with nine kills while Sara Mancini had a match-high 18 kills.
Fairfield continues MAAC play tomorrow, Oct. 1, with a 2 p.m. match-up against Canisius in Alumni Hall
