Volleyball: Stags at #9 Michigan State in NCAA First Round

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The Stags will head to ­­­­­­­­­­East Lansing, MI to meet ninth-seeded Michigan State (24-8) in the NCAA Volleyball Championship First Round on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 PM. The BIG TEN Spartans are making their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and have won five straight first-round NCAA Tournament games. The winner of the match will then play the winner of the Arizona vs. Cleveland State match in the Second Round on Sunday, December 3 at 7:00 PM.

The Stags enter their second consecutive NCAA postseason at 28-5 overall and riding a 22-match winning streak – the nation’s longest active streak. Michigan State averaged 3,051 fans at home during the regular season at their 5,017 seat Jenison Field House.



www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/volleyball-women/d1

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The team watching their FAIRFIELD STAGS name called on ESPNU in the NCAA Selection Show:
www.fairfieldstags.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=5793898&db_oem_id=32500

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The Fairfield University Volleyball team – 2016 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions – will head to ­­­­­­­­­­East Lansing to meet ninth-seeded and 15th-ranked Michigan State in the NCAA Championship First Round on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The Stags will depart from campus on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. from Alumni Hall. All are invited to send the Stags off as they head to the NCAA Tournament.

FREE video webcast:
www.msuspartans.com/collegesportslive/?media=543170

Rankings - AVCA Coaches
November 28, 2016
RANK SCHOOL POINTS RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Minnesota (36) 1570 25-4 2
2 Nebraska (27) 1561 27-2 1
3 Wisconsin (1) 1472 25-4 3
4 Kansas 1406 26-2 4
5 Texas 1296 22-4 5
6 North Carolina 1247 27-3 6
7 Washington 1216 26-4 7
8 UCLA 1082 24-6 8
9 Stanford 1050 21-7 12
10 BYU 1033 27-3 10
11 Florida 992 26-3 9
12 Hawai'i 873 22-5 13
13 Penn State 812 22-9 15
14 San Diego 753 24-5 11
15 Michigan State 678 24-8 14
16 Florida State 618 24-5 16
17 Michigan 610 22-10 18
18 Missouri 477 25-5 22
19 Oregon 444 20-9 19
20 Western Kentucky 406 30-2 20
21 Creighton 361 26-6 21
22 Utah 225 20-11 17
23 Dayton 218 30-1 24
24 Kentucky 121 22-7 23
25 Washington State 104 21-11 25

Out of 334 NCAA Division 1 programs, the Stags' rpi is ranked #119.
www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/ncaa-womens-volleyball-rpi

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Stags practicing at Michigan State's Jenison Field House:

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The Stags' season ends at 28-6 as #15 Michigan State wins the NCAA First Round match 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-16). Megan Theiller led all players with 12 kills but Michigan State had 38 kills overall to the Stags' 23 kills.

QUOTABLE:
“We were really excited to have an opportunity to play in front of our home crowd, and we knew that Fairfield was going to fight and be pretty scrappy. They are well-coached and have tournament experience. We know that we're going to have to clean up some things before tomorrow, when we play Arizona. I think we're really excited for one last match on our home court this season and are very focused on being ready for Arizona..” -- Head Coach Cathy George

SET ONE: Brooke Kranda’s back-to-back aces began to allow MSU to separate, and using a balanced attack that saw the Spartans have five players with two kills, they held a 19-10 lead, hitting .350. Fairfield had six kills and seven errors as MSU built a 23-12 lead, but four of those errors were Spartan blocks. A Brooke Kranda kill - her third of the night - to get MSU to set point, and after a Spartan service error gave Fairfield the sideout, Holly Toliver picked up her first kill to close out the set, 25-14. Kranda and Bailey finished with three kills each, and Kranda, Fitterer and Garvelink each had a pair of blocks. MSU hit .393 in the set (14-3-28), limiting Fairfield to .000 (7-7-29). MSU sided out at 85%, and had four blocks.

SET TWO: Fairfield had a 4-3 lead before Reinig tied it up at 4-4, and Bailey followed with a shot from the left side that gave the Spartans the lead for good. After a 4-0 run, the Stags called time out, trailing 7-4; out of the break, MSU stretched its lead to 11-6, and kept pulling away until the lead was nine (18-9), when Fairfield called its second time out of the frame. Back-to-back kills by Reinig and Garvelink allowed MSU to win the race to 20, Autumn Bailey closed out the set for MSU with three straight kills, pushing her match total to eight and allowing the Spartans to take a 25-13 lead. Bailey’s five kills and four digs led MSU, and Garvelink had three terminations. MSU hit .417 to .036 for the Stags, and added a pair of blocks to push their match total to six.

SET THREE: MSU ran out to an 11-5 lead, hitting .429; the Spartans maintained that seven point lead, going to their bench and continuing to spread their offense throughout the floor. A 6-1 MSU run ended the third frame at 25-15, with Toliver compiling three kills in that span to close out the match. MSU hit a match-low .259 in the frame, lowering the Spartans’ overall hitting percentage to .354 for the match.

2,484 fans at the game.

Box Score:
www.msuspartans.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2016-2017/ncaagm2.html

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The Stags’ 2016 season was highlighted by the program’s ninth MAAC Championship, tying Siena for the most in conference history. Fairfield’s 28 victories mark the third-most in program history and the most since the 1998 (35-2) and 1999 (30-4) teams put together back-to-back 30-win campaigns. Megan O’Sullivan is Fairfield’s lone senior, graduating as a two-time First Team All-MAAC honor and MVP of the 2016 MAAC Championship, with the rest of the Stags slated to return in 2017.

NCAA Tournament Photo Gallery:
www.fairfieldstags.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?PALBID=2040158&DB_OEM_ID=32500

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Congrats to the ladies for an outstanding season. Much to look forward to for next year because only one starter ( the middle) graduates. The competition in the MAAC will come from Quinnipiac who had a very young team this year. Perhaps if the stags can repeat and get to the NCAA again they can at least win one game. The difference between mid-major v-ball and major programs, like Big 10 schools is immense, more then the gap between men's hoop teams.