Fairfield concludes regular season with sweep

The Fairfield volleyball team was all smiles at the conclusion of Senior and Parents Night Thursday in Fairfield, and for good reason.

The Trojans capped an undefeated season in Southeast Conference play by sweeping Fort Madison by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-22.

?All around I was real pleased with our efforts and how we approached the game ? being an emotional night ? and I thought we just came out and took care of business,? said Fairfield head coach Nancy Diers.

The five seniors who played their final regular season match for the Trojans included Tori Ogden, Taylor Neil, McKenzie Lyman, Taylor Silvers and Haley Williams.

?The whole group is a nice group of young ladies,? said Diers. ?It?s been an honor to be able to coach them for the last four years, whether they were varsity or JV, they put in a lot of time and effort for our program.?

Fairfield kicked off Senior and Parents Night with a tempo-setting kill from Sydney Howard before stretching its lead out to 12-6. From there, Fairfield let the Bloodhounds bury themselves in mistakes en route to a 25-14 win in game one.

Fairfield found itself in a quick 0-3 hole to open the second set, but a sideout to Fairfield followed by kills by Ogden and Erin Thompson got the Trojans rolling again at 3-all. Fairfield led the game from that point forward and cruised to another win.

While the Trojans had no trouble putting away the Bloodhounds in the first two sets, Fort Madison made it a little more interesting in game three.

?We didn?t serve as well in game three,? said Diers. ?You make a passing mistake here, or an untimely hitting mistake, and they go on a mini-run.?

Mini-runs were the tale of the third set, as both the Trojans and Bloodhounds would go on small scoring spurts until the score reached 20-all. Fairfield managed to score five of the next seven points, however, to win the game and match.

Aces were down for the Trojans on Thursday, but the team didn?t have trouble finding other ways to score points.

?I thought offensively we did what we needed to do in all three games,? Diers added. ?It?s kind of like a broken record, but our six hitters are just stronger than their six hitters. We can score points in larger chunks and that?s a big deal when you?re playing volleyball.?

Ogden led the hitters with a team-high 10 kills. Thompson and Howard slapped six kills apiece, while Lyman added four kills.

Burnett sustained the offense and its 30 kills with 18 assists, while fellow setter Neil added eight.

Defensively, Howard chipped in 25 digs and Ogden came up with 17. Marisa Repp tallied two blocks.

Fairfield finishes the regular season with an unblemished 8-0 record in conference play, as well as a 26-9 mark overall and 62-23 record in games played.

The Trojans will host their regional opener at 7 p.m. Monday vs. Oskaloosa.

FAIRFIELD ? 25, 25, 25

FT. MADISON ? 14, 15, 22

DIGS ? (FF) Howard 25, Ogden 17, Baumann 13, Silvers 13, Burnett 11, Neil 7, Lyman 6, Thompson 2, Williams 2, Repp 1

SERVING ? (FF) Howard 16-18, Baumann 15-16 (2), Burnett 12-12 (1), Ogden 10-12 (2), Silvers 7-7, Neil 5-10 (1)

ATTACKS ? (FF) Howard 29-32 (6), Ogden 22-25 (10), Baumann 15-19 (3), Thompson 14-16 (6), Lyman 13-15 (4), Repp 12-17, Silvers 5-5 (1), Burnett 1-1, Williams 1-1

ASSISTS ? (FF) Burnett 18, Neil 8, Thompson 2, Baumann 1, Silvers 1

BLOCKS (solo-asst-tot) ? Repp 1-1-2, Lyman 1-0-1, Baumann 0-1-1

SERVE RECEIVE ? Ogden 12-17, Silvers 8-11, Baumann 6-11, Howard 3-3, Repp 2-2, Williams 1-2