Fairfield digs up easy sweep of Keokuk

From a five-set loss last month to never trailing and picking up a three-game sweep.

That?s the turnaround the Fairfield volleyball team pulled vs. Keokuk with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-18 win Tuesday night.

?The defense just really picked it up from how we played the first time,? said Fairfield head coach Nancy Diers. ?We were just a lot more prepared for their softer shots, and it really pushed our offense as we went through the match.?

Senior libero Dana Diers led the defensive effort with a match-high 26 digs and helped frustrate the big Keokuk hitters.

The Trojans (24-11, 5-2 SEC) can clinch no worse than second place with a win in the regular season finale Thursday at Fort Madison. They will also become big-time Keokuk (11-10, 5-2) fans Thursday and hope for a Chief win vs. current SEC top dog Mount Pleasant that would move them into a three-way tie for the conference title.

?We did what we can do, and when we go down to Fort Madison we can only control ourselves,? Diers said. ?We?re going to have to stay the course to get that win and not worry about what happens in Mount Pleasant. We?ll become Keokuk fans to make it a tie, but we have to get our win first.?

Tuesday, there were just two ties and the Chiefs never held a lead in the Fairfield victory that shared the stage with senior night, a big group of youngsters singing the national anthem and an even bigger crowd dressed in black.

?The big crowd and senior night really got us going. Everybody was fired up to play on our home court again,? said Tori Ogden, who led Fairfield with 10 kills in the match. ?We just want to carry it over to Thursday. When we play as a team like we did tonight, things work out.?

The solid play started early for the Trojans as they jumped out to an early lead in game one, forced an early Keokuk timeout and set the tone for the rest of the night. The Chiefs clawed back to within one point, but Fairfield had another run in store to push through the end. McKenzie Lyman and Sydney Howard were too much at the net as each put down two kills late in game one to take a 25-21 win.

?We would bend every once in a while and let them get back within 2-3 points, but never broke and gave up a lead,? said Diers. ?I was just happy that our kids played with a lot more energy, and with a lot of distractions, everyone came out really focused on what they waned to do.?

Ogden had two kills early in game two, which cleared the path for a big serving run from Sami Herman to open up a 13-7 lead and the Trojans cruised. Taylor Neil finished the set with a kill as she joined Sydney Baumann on the stat sheet from the right side of the net.

?We used right hits at the right time, and the setters spread the ball around well ? a lot of kids with kills.?

Seven different Trojans put down points via spike as Herman picked up 20 assists and Sydney Burnett recorded 10.

Lyman broke a 4-4 tie in game three, Keokuk was within one point again a 8-7, but Fairfield had one more run looming. The Trojans stretched its lead out to 19-10, withstood a mild Keokuk comeback that made the score 20-17 before pushing through to the end to take the game 25-18 and clinch the match.

The Trojans will now have a quick turnaround for their match at Fort Madison Thursday, which will be the final tune up for regional play beginning next Monday.