Nov. 11, 2006
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Regular Season champion Fairfield volleyball team wrapped up conference play the way it started - with an unblemished record. The Stags won their 18th-straight match this afternoon by blanking Loyola, 3-0 (30-13, 30-11, 30-26). It is the first undefeated MAAC regular season that Fairfield (21-6, 18-0) has had since the 2000 season when the Stags went 9-0.
Junior Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) and freshman Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) each recorded double-doubles while several additional Stags recorded double figures. Lee notched her 17th double-double of the year with a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs while Thistle recorded her eighth double-double of the year with 40 assists and 10 digs.
Junior Kelly Oliver (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) continued to play well recording eight kills and 10 digs while freshman Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) notched 10 kills on .529 hitting. Junior Jazmin Pa'akaula (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) also chipped in with 10 kills, on .617 hitting, along with five digs. Sophomore Brandi Higa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Hawaii Baptist Academy) added 11 digs and a season-high three service aces.
Senior Natalie Barba (Austin, Texas/Westwood) chipped in with four kills and two block assists. She is just two block assists away from tying the school record of 284 set by Laura Gleason in 1995.
For the match, Fairfield hit .380 with 49 kills and just eight errors in 108 total attempts while Loyola hit .074 with 28 kills and 20 errors in 108 total attempts. The Greyhounds held a slight 4-3 advantage in total blocks.
Fairfield's 18-match winning streak is tied with the 1999 squad for the third-longest in program histoy. Additionally, it is the fourth-longest active winning streak this season.
Fairfield has flexed its collective muscle in the MAAC, dominating its opponents. Fourteen of the Stags' 18 victories were by 3-0 margins while dropping just four individual games. Fairfield had a run of 31-straight individual game victories and has taken 39 of its last 40 games. Since 1997, the Stags are 91-8 against MAAC opponents in the regular season.
Top-seeded Fairfield will look to continue its success in the conference as it vies for the 2006 MAAC Volleyball Championship held Nov. 16-19 at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
