Trojans survive Greyhound comeback bid in SEC opener

FAIRFIELD — Southeast Conference action got off to a blazing start on Tuesday night and for Fairfield, it featured a match between the team they competed with for a SEC title a year ago, Burlington.

Much like in 2022, the matchup also lived up to the hype in 2023.

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In what started as a dominant performance for the Trojans through two sets quickly became a scare as Burlington blistered back to send it to a fifth.

When all was said and done, Fairfield survived with a 3-2 victory, 25-16, 25-16, 18-25, 28-30 and 15-8.

Things didn’t start great for Fairfield in set one.

Burlington jumped out to 5-1 advantage, but Fairfield kept a level head.

The Trojans began to chip away, and after a kill and ace by junior Lilly Bergren, the Trojans had the game knotted at 7-7.

Bergren served three more times, capped off by another ace, which turned into three more Trojans points to make it 10-7.

They would never trail again in the set.

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Burlington showed some fight as well, marching back to within two at 18-16, but the Trojans closed it out with seven straight points.

In set two, it was a battle off the rip.

Four points were all that separated the two squads before a kill by senior Rowan Terrell made it 15-9.

Burlington cut it down to one with five straight points, but a big run again closed it out for Fairfield.

The Trojans outscored the Grayhounds 10-2 the rest of the way.

In set three, it was Fairfield who leapt out to the early advantage, building up a 6-3 lead after a miss hit by Burlington.

Then errors hit the Trojans.

Fairfield tallied three errors on the following four plays, which kicked off what would be a seven-point run by Burlington, giving it a 10-6 lead.

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The Trojans did all they could to come back, getting it down to three on numerous occasions, but that’s as close as they would come.

In set four, four points were all that separated the two squads through the entire match, as the Grayhounds led the Trojans 19-15 late.

However, Fairfield was able to knot it up again, and the two teams traded match points five times before the Grayhounds forced a fifth set.

With only one set remaining, Fairfield played with an edge with the match on the line.

They jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a Terrell block and eventually increased it to 8-4 off a kill by Claire Thompson.

Burlington cut it back to two at 8-6, but the Trojans kept their foot on the pedal, giving up just two more points on their way to the 3-2 victory.