Nov. 17, 2006
LAKE BUENA VISTA Fla. - For the third consecutive year the Fairfield University volleyball team will appear in the final match of the MAAC Championship. The top-seeded Stags advanced to this year's final with a decisive, 3-0 (30-19, 30-22, 30-13) victory against fourth-seeded Manhattan this afternoon. Fairfield (23-6) will face the #2 Siena on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.
For the second-straight day, juniors Lindsey Lee (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) and Jazmin Pa'akaula (Hilo, Hawaii/St. Joseph) posted double-doubles. Lee notched a match-high 11 kills with 15 digs while Pa'akaula added 10 kills and 13 digs.
Freshman Barbie Thistle (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) had 33 assists while sophomore Brandi Higa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Hawaii Baptist Academy) had 18 digs. Junior Kelly Oliver (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) added 12 digs, seven kills and three block assists while freshman Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) tied a career high with six total blocks on the day along with eight kills.
The Stags used a 10-3 in the first game to open up a 12-6 lead. Fairfield continued to push taking a 26-16 advantage on huge kill by Pa'akaula and the Stags never looked back.
Fairfield trailed early in game two, but came back to take a 14-8 lead on a kill by Oliver, prompting a Manhattan timeout. Out of the break, the Stags continued to push opening up an 18-8 lead before Sherryta Stokes stopped the run. The Jaspers would cut the gap to 28-21, but the Stags held them off for the win.
Thistle served the first four points of the match to give Fairfield the early lead. The Jaspers pulled within 6-4 but that is as close as they would get as the Stags cruised to the 30-13 win.
Fairfield, winners of 20-straight matches, hit .244 for the match while Manhattan hit .060. The Stags also held a 10-4 advantage in blocks.
