Fairfield continues conference win streak at Fort Madison

FORT MADISON ? A slow start threatened to derail the 14th-ranked Fairfield volleyball team Tuesday night, but the Trojans? depth proved to be the winning factor in Fort Madison.

The Southeast Conference matchup featured close scores throughout but Fairfield swept past the Bloodhounds 26-24, 25-19, 25-15.

?We just had some struggles on the night in serve receive and some hitting, and I was very thankful for our bench,? said Fairfield head coach Nancy Diers. ?Those kids stepped up and got some playing time ... and it gave a couple players who were struggling a chance to sit back, calm down and regroup.?

Specifically, Ashley Manning and Haley Williams provided the much-needed spark the Trojans needed.

Manning recorded three kills and five digs in the match, while Williams didn?t show up on the stat sheet but ?did what she was supposed to? regardless of whether the ball was hit to her, Diers said.

The Trojans kicked off the first game with a 16-12 lead and continued to hold a four or five point lead until they were within one point of a game one win. With the score 24-19, Fort Madison went on a service run and tied the score at 24-all. Sidney Baumann served the final points for the Trojans, though, to shut the door on the Bloodhounds.

It wasn?t until game two when the Trojans would surrender a lead of any kind. The game featured a back-and-forth score early before the Bloodhounds were able to take a 15-11 lead. Taylor Silvers served the Trojans back to 15-all, and Tori Ogden went on a service run from points 18-23 to help the Trojans to a five-point lead and eventually a game two win.

The third game was a little less in doubt as Fairfield jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a McKenna Ledger service run. From there, Fairfield held the lead for the remainder of the game.

Serving, like it has been all season long, was one of the team?s strong suits Tuesday evening. Altogether, Fairfield had a 95 percent success rate on serves with only four misses. Ogden led the team with three aces on 15 serves. Burnett, Baumann, Neil and Thompson had one ace apiece.

?I think as a team, this is probably the most consistent team I?ve had of servers,? said Diers. ?Some do a high float serve, some do a low float serve, and we have some that do a top spin serve, so that makes it a little harder on the opponent to adjust.?

Baumann led the team with 17 digs, Ogden had 16 and Silvers added 14. Sydney Burnett recorded a team-high 17 assists and Taylor Neil had 13. McKenzie Lyman had two of the team?s four blocks.

Diers said it wasn?t the team?s best day, but as Fairfield works into the second half of the season they will need to start bringing their ?A? game every day.

?Our Fairfield tradition is that most people play their best against us because they?re gauging their season on how well they do against us just because of what we?ve done in the conference the last several years,? said Diers. ?You can take that as an honor, but you also have to respect that and be mentally prepared and physically prepared.?

Next up for the Trojans (18-3) is a trip to Mount Pleasant Tuesday.

FAIRFIELD ? 26, 25, 25

FORT MADISON ? 24, 19, 15

Kills ? Ogden 8, Thompson 7, Repp 6, Lyman 5, Baumann 5, Manning 3, Ledger 2

Assists ? Burnett 17, Neil 13, Thompson 3, Repp 1

Serving ? Silvers 18-18, Burnett 7-7 (1), Baumann 7-7, Neil 9-12 (1), Thompson 11-11 (1), Ogden 14-15 (3), Manning 1-1

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

Digs ? Baumann 17, Ogden 16, Silvers 14, Burnett 9, Neil 5, Thompson 5, Manning 5, Ledger 1, Repp 1