Fairfield sweeps Panthers

MOUNT PLEASANT ? Fairfield was up to the task against conference rival Mount Pleasant in 2011.

The Trojans (19-3, 7-0 conference) came up with their second sweep of the Panthers (10-12, 4-2 conference), this time on Mount Pleasant?s court, with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-17 victory Tuesday.

?It?s really a great win for our kids,? said Fairfield head coach Nancy Diers. ?No. 1 being conference rivals, No. 2 playing on Mount Pleasant?s court. Their fan base is really loud and obnoxious, so for our kids to be able to play through that and play through our slow start ... they did a nice job.?

The rowdy crowd may have gotten to the Trojans, who fell behind 1-7 in the first game, but it didn?t take long for the team to come together and chip away at the deficit.

Helping lead the charge was Sidney Baumann, who went on service runs from points 2-7 and again from 19-25 to close out the game. In a match lacking in aces ? the Trojans had six ? Baumann was a perfect 21-of-21 serving with one ace.

?Sidney had a terrific night of serving, and she had some long service runs,? said Diers. ?It?s always nice when you can string some points together.?

The teeter-totter momentum continued into the second game, and again Mount Pleasant was able to take the lead.

Down 15-18, Taylor Neil went on a service run to put the Trojans out in front 20-15. Mount Pleasant tied it back at 20-all, but Tori Ogden, last season?s Co-SEC Player of the Year, served the final four points for the Trojans. The senior sent one final ace over the net to cap off the service run and game.

Ogden was 11-of-11 on serving with two aces in the match. She also tallied one block, chipped in 17 digs and slammed eight kills to lead the team.

Alternating service continued into the third and final game, leading to a 16-all tie before Baumann served from points 21-25 to take the game and match.

?After we started the game we loosened up a little bit and took care of the ball a lot better,? said Diers. ?We got some blocks up. We got 10 blocks on the night and that?s more than we?ve had in a while.?

Along the front line, Marisa Repp and McKenzie Lyman had three blocks apiece while Ogden recorded two. Sydney Howard, who played for the first time in several matches, and Erin Thompson also scored on blocks.

Sydney Burnett and Taylor Neil tallied 12 and seven assists, respectively.

?I just thought it was a good team effort by everybody,? said Diers. ?It was nice to see that we could spread the wealth around and not have just one person dominate.?

The Trojans travel to Oskaloosa for a round-robin tournament Saturday.

FAIRFIELD ? 25, 25, 25

MOUNT PLEASANT ? 17, 20, 17

Kills ? Ogden 8, Thompson 5, Repp 4, Baumann 4, Howard 2

Assists ? Burnett 12, Neil 7, Baumann 1, Thompson 1, Lyman 1

Serving ? Burnett 12-12 (2), Ogden 11-11 (2), Baumann 21-21 (1), Howard 11-11 (1), Neil 10-13

Blocks (solo-asst-tot) ? Repp 3-0-3, Ogden 1-1-2, Lyman 0-3-3, Howard 0-1-1, Thompson 0-1-1

Digs ? Ogden 17, Burnett 15, Baumann 13, Silvers 7, Howard 6, Williams 6, Neil 5, Thompson 2, Lyman 1