Fairfield volleyball blocks Keokuk

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield volleyball team had Keokuk hitters seeing double in Tuesday night’s Southeast Conference showdown.

That may have been due to sophomores Maggie and Macy Rayburn. The Trojan twins anchored a front-row defense that came away with nine blocks in a dominant three-set win (25-13, 25-20, 26-24) over the Chiefs.

Maggie Rayburn was on fire early, collecting three kills and two blocks in the opening set. Fairfield never trailed by more than one point in the first set, and erupted midway through to earn a 12-point victory.

“We played really well as a team, and we all found our spots,” Maggie said. “That's what led to such a good start.”

The Trojans didn’t trail in Set 2. Keokuk continued to get frustrated by the block, seemingly hitting it into a Trojan arm or over the back line on every kill attempt.

“I just kept my hands up like coach tells me,” Maggie Rayburn said. “That's what I've been working on, so I'm glad it finally paid off.”

Keokuk did begin to find a groove late in the second set, cutting the Trojans’ lead to as little as four, at 24-20 before Fairfield got the last point. In the third set, the Chiefs rallied from down 7-2 to take as much as a four-point lead.

Fairfield scraped back, eventually tying the game at 21-21, 22-22 and finally 24-24 after a kill from Macy Rayburn helped the Trojans fight off Keokuk’s only set point of the match. Mallory Lyon followed with a kill and Maddie Jones ended it with an ace.

“I feel like those last three points, we bonded as a team,” Macy Rayburn said. “We knew we wanted to win this game.”

Hannah Bergren led the Trojans with seven kills. Maggie Rayburn had six kills and five blocks. Macy Rayburn finished with five kills and two blocks. Lyon had five kills, and Anna Dunlap went for four kills and two blocks.

Bergren produced a Trojan-leading eight digs. Brynley Allison contributed six assists, and Kiya Robertson finished with seven digs, five assists and two service aces.

The Trojans are 5-5 overall and 3-0 in the SEC. Fairfield sits alone atop the conference as the only undefeated squad.

“It has been very nice to see it come together,” Trojan head coach Diana Drish said. “But we still have to keep pushing forward. We still have to earn it.”