Oct. 1, 2006
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Three Stags recorded double-doubles to lift Fairfield to a 3-1 (30-26, 30-28, 23-30, 30-22) victory against Canisius in a high energy match at Alumni Hall. The Stags, winners of five straight, improve to 8-6 overall and 5-0 in the MAAC while the Golden Griffs fall to 10-7 on the year and 4-2 in the conference.
For the second-straight match, juniors Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) and Jazmin Pa'akaula (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) notched double figures as Lee tallied a match-high 18 kills along with 24 digs while Pa'akaula recorded 15 kills and 18 digs. Pa'akaula also tied a career high with four block assists. Setter Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) posted the third double-double with 50 assists and a career-high 17 digs.
Senior Natalie Barba (Austin, Texas/Westwood) had an excellent effort recording nine kills and tying a career-high seven block assists. With her block totals, Barba tied former Stag Kristin Anderson for third on Fairfield's career block assists list with 252 and moved into fourth all-time on career total blocks charts with 296.
Fairfield took an early 7-2 lead to open the match but Canisius roared back to take a 12-8 lead. With the match knotted at 14-14, Lee put the Stags on top with a blast that split the Griffs' defense. Fairfield rolled out to a 19-15 lead but Canisius continued to chip away, eventually pulling within 22-20. The Stags were able to hold on and closed out the game with a block by Barba and Pa'akaula.
The second game was a tight battle with 15 ties and eight lead changes. The Griffs jumped out to a 13-9 lead, but the Stags would tie the game 13-13 on a kill by Lee that landed in the back row. The two teams would tie eight more times before Canisius pulled ahead 26-20. Fairfield pulled within 26-25 on back-to-back blocks by Barba and Pa'akaula. The two teams found themselves tied again at 27-27 but Pa'akaula put the Stags ahead to stay with back-to-back kills.
Canisius led from the start in the third game opening up a 15-9 lead creating a deficit in which the Stags could not recover from. The fourth game started off close as the score rested at 14-14. The Stags' kicked their offense and defense up a notch going on a 16-8 run to close the match.
For the Griffs, Jen Smith recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs while Jess Stackhouse tallied a match-high 29 digs. Leigh Launhardt chipped in with 11 kills and three block assists while Mary Boller had a match-high 18 kills.
Fairfield will travel to Siena on Oct. 7 as both teams will look to remain undefeated in the MAAC.
