Fairfield opens strong, sweeps three at home quad

A greater emphasis will be placed on offense by the Fairfield volleyball team, and if Thursday?s season opener was any indication, the Trojans are well on their way.

Fairfield rolled to three wins ? all in two games ? in the Steve Hisel Quad against Albia, Eddyville-Blakesburg and IMS. Albia was downed 25-7, 25-10 in the opener, E-B fell 25-17, 25-18 and IMS closed the night by losing 25-13, 25-16.

The reason for the offensive optimism stems from the return of the two setters Taylor Neil and Sydney Burnett, who appeared to pick up Thursday right where they left off last fall.

?Setters did a tremendous job of hustling, getting around the court and setting the right hitters. That just comes from having a year of experience under their belt,? said head coach Nancy Diers. ?Last year would have been a whole different story, but Taylor and Sydney had a terrific night all the way through.?

Neil finished the night with 25 assists in three matches while Burnett tallied 19.

The rest of the Trojans also got off to a fast start in front of a sizeable crowd and picked up two relatively easy games against Albia. Sidney Baumann served the final six points of a 25-7 game one victory while also leading the team with four kills in the match.

?Albia was kind of a good ice breaker,? Diers said. ?They didn?t show us a whole lot, and it was nice that we didn?t have to go straight into quick tempo and high-pressure play.?

Ten different Trojans saw the court as Tori Ogden and Mckenzie Lyman also picked up four kills with Sydney Howard digging up six.

Eddyville-Blakesburg ended up as winners in two matches on the night, but couldn?t keep up with Fairfield at the end of games. The jump-serving team fell victim to a number of errors over the course of the match that Fairfield was able to take advantage of. The Trojans curtailed their own service errors in game two and scored six of the final seven points.

Sophomore Marisa Repp led the team with nine kills and Neil went 13-of-14 on serves with four aces.

In the nightcap, Taylor Silvers got things going with a serving run that took her team all the way from point seven to 17, and the rest of the match was salted away from there. IMS upset Fairfield in three sets a year ago.

?IMS kind of matched up with us because there?s not a lot of height and they?re pretty scrappy, but when you go on those serving runs, it sure makes things a little easier,? Diers said.

Silvers finished the match 12-of-12 from the baseline with one ace while Neil was also a perfect 12-of-12 with three aces. Ogden put down a team-best nine kills.

The Trojans are 3-0 and now have a week off before stepping into a huge Southeast Conference match against rival Mount Pleasant.

Fairfield vs. Albia

Albia ? 7, 10

Fairfield ? 25, 25

KILLS ? Baumann 4, Ogden 4, Lyman 4, Howard 3, Repp 2, Burnett 1, Thompson 1

ASSISTS ? Neil 8, Burnett 7, Baumann 1, Thompson 1, Ogden 1

SERVING ? Baumann 14-15 (2), Howard 12-13 (1), Neil 7-7 (2), Ogden 7-8, Burnett 2-2, Silvers 2-2

DIGS ? Howard 6, Baumann 4, Silvers 3, Burnett 3, Williams 1, Thompson 1, Lyman 1, Manning 1

Fairfield vs. Eddyville-Blakesburg

E-B ? 17, 18

Fairfield ? 25, 25

KILLS ? Repp 5, Ogden 4, Howard 3, Thompson 2, Lyman 2, Baumann 1

ASSISTS ? Neil 8, Burnett 6, Baumann 1

SERVING ? Neil 13-14 (4), Ogden 7-8, Silvers 7-8 (1), Burnett 7-7 (2), Baumann 5-7, Howard 3-5 (1)

DIGS ? Ogden 9, Silvers 7, Howard 5, Burnett 3, Baumann 3, Neil 3, Repp 1, Thompson 1, Lyman 1

Fairfield vs. IMS

IMS ? 13, 16

Fairfield ? 25, 25

KILLS ? Ogden 9, Howard 3, Lyman 3, Thompson 2

ASSISTS ? Neil 9, Burnett 6, Williams 1, Baumann 1

SERVING ? Neil 12-12 (3), Silvers 12-12 (1), Burnett 8-8 (3), Baumann 6-7 (1), Ogden 4-4 (1), Howard 3-3, Williams 1-2

DIGS ?Silvers 9, Ogden 8, Baumann 8, Howard 7, Burnett 6, Thompson 3, Williams 1, Lyman 1, Manning 1