Oct. 29, 2006
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Stags closed the month of the October the same way they started it -- undefeated in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Siena, second-place in the MAAC standings, was the latest team to encounter the streaking Stags, as Fairfield blanked the Saints 3-0 (30-24, 30-22, 30-20), this afternoon at Alumni Hall. With the victory, the Stags posted their 14th-straight match and their eighth-consecutive shutout victory as they move to 17-6 on the season and 14-0 in the conference. Siena falls to 15-12 and 11-3 in league play.
Two Stags recorded double-doubles while four others were in double digits. Junior Jazmin Pa'akaula (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) registered a match-high 13 kills with 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season while classmate Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) tallied 11 kills and a match-high 16 digs for her 14th double-double of the year.
Freshman Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) continued to hit extremely well as she tallied 10 kills and a .667 attack percentage while not committing an error in 15 total attempts. Freshman Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) chipped in with 43 assists and five digs.
Defensively, sophomore Brandi Higa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Hawaii Baptist Academy) had 14 digs while Kelly Oliver (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) had 10 digs. Senior Natalie Barba (Austin, Texas/Westwood) added four block assists. Both Oliver and Barba notched seven kills on the day. With her blocks, Barba is 10 block assists away from tying Fairfield's career record and is five total blocks away from tying Corrine Carlson for second on the all-time list.
Tied 11-11 in game one, Siena opened up a 16-13 lead on a kill by Nadiege Honore. The Stags climbed back to knot the score at 13-13 and the two team would tie four more times before the score rested at 20-20. A kill by Mann sparked a 10-4 run by the Stags as they went on to capture the opening game.
Fairfield carried the momentum into game two opening up a 10-5 lead to start. Siena would pull within 15-11, but Fairfield would use an 11-5 burst to take a ten-point lead and never look back.
In the final game, the two teams were tied 11-11 but a kill by Pa'akaula swung the momentum in Fairfield's favor as the Stags out-scored the Saints, 19-9, the rest of the way.
For the Saints, Christie Gustafson had 11 kills while April London recorded 28 assists and 12 digs. Jessica Hackett recorded 11 digs.
Fairfield hit .328 for the match while Siena hit just .131. The Stags held a 57-47 advantage in digs and out-blocked the Saints 5-2.
Fairfield returns to action next weekend when the Stags host their final two home games of the season. Fairfield will welcome Rider on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. followed by Manhattan on Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. Prior to the match against the Jaspers, the Stags will honor its two graduating seniors.
