LOUDONVILLE, NY – The moments were there for the taking for Siena Volleyball, but critical runs toward the middle part of sets gave Fairfield just enough cushion as the Saints dropped a conference match 3-0 (15-25, 21-25, 21-25) on Saturday afternoon at the UHY Center.
Siena (1-12, 1-2 MAAC) were slightly outdueled by several key statistical areas (40-31 in kills, 8-1 in aces and 41-36 in digs) by the Stags.
The Saints started out well, taking an 8-4 advantage on the strength of a pair of kills from
Olga Sawinska and one kill each from
Sara Wagner and
Anny Montano.
But, Fairfield responded with a 13-2 run highlighted by three kills from Janna Schlageter and a string of four consecutive aces from Blakely Montgomery.
The Saints also committed three straight attacking errors and fell behind 23-13 before dropping the opening set 25-15.
In the second set, the teams traded points in the early goings with it locked at 6-6 after a Montano kill from Meghan Johnson.
Fairfield used a 7-1 run to build a 13-7 advantage with kills from Svenja Rodenbusch and Mamie Krubally.
Siena rallied back by winning 11 of the next 17 points to close the gap to 19-18.
During the spurt, Wagner collected two kills while Latunde,
Sina Toroslu and
Kayla Jones all also got into the act with kills of their own.
The Stags utilized a 5-1 run behind a pair of aces from Rodenbusch to take the set 25-21.
The Saints took command early in the third set, capturing a 7-3 lead punctuated by a Wagner kill off the feed from
Oliwia Majtyka.
Sawinska also had two kills in this span. The Saints still held a lead as late as 14-13 following two Wagner kills off the assist from Majtyka.
Fairfield went on a 9-2 run to provide a six-point cushion before going on to win the set 25-21.
Wagner led the Saints with 10 kills, eight digs, three blocks and an ace while Majtyka turned out 11 helpers and Johnsson tallied 10 assists.
Next up, Siena will return home at the UHY Center to host Quinnipiac (7-5, 3-0 MAAC) on Sunday at 2 p.m. in another conference game.
