Trojans tumble to Grayhounds

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield volleyball had a tough night on the court Tuesday night against Southeast Conference opponent Burlington.

The Trojans put up a good fight, but a plethora of errors put them down early and they were never quite able to climb back. Burlington took the match 3-1, with victories of 25-19, 17-25, 25-23, 25-23

In set one, Fairfield scored the first points of the night, but they would never lead again. The closest the Trojans would come would be one at 7-6.

Burlington proceeded to rattle off five straight to make it 12-7, on a mix of service errors and hitting errors.

Fairfield would end with a kill efficiency percentage of .098 and a serve efficiency of 79.8%.

“We played our game,” Fairfield co-head coach Stephanie Herman said. “We were able to run out system. Everyone did their job. Those unforced errors really let them into the game. Thinking about our serving and making that more consistent would change the outcome. Just making sure we’re doing our job in that regard.”

The Trojans didn’t give up though, as they bounced back to cut it within two at 12-10, 14-12 and 17-15, but they couldn’t get over the hump as the Grayhounds outscored them 7-4 up until the final point of the set.

Burlington looked to have carried the momentum from a first set victory into the second, as they jumped out with three straight points.

Fairfield had answers.

The Trojans were able to tie it at 3-3 with an Addison Ferrel ace. Ferrel would follow with two additional aces and Rowan Terrell hammered one home to give the Trojans a 6-3 advantage. They wouldn’t lose the lead.

Set two was never in doubt for Fairfield as they built up a lead as big as 18-10. Burlington was able to cut it to five at 20-15, but the Trojans were able to bring it home with a 5-2 run.

“They’re really developing trust in each other,” Fairfield co-head coach Vicki Rebling said. “They can fight through anything. They will never give up. We showed it tonight for sure.”

The little mistakes returned in the third set to Fairfield.

Fairfield would score first once again, but in a flash it was 7-1 Burlington. Burlington built up leads of 10-3 and 19-10, but the Trojans showed what they’re capable of once again.

Following the nine point deficit and a timeout, the Trojans scored seven straight to cut it two 19-17 off a Macy Rayburn kill and a hitting error by the Grayhounds.

The Trojans were not able to grab the lead, despite nearly completing the comeback cutting it to one on a Burlington match point 24-23. With a chance to tie, the Trojans put the ball in the net on the serve.

“They do have a lot of fight in them,” Herman said. “We can depend on them to continue to fight from start to finish. We want to make sure moving forward that we continue to be aggressive on the serving line and consistent to put the other team out of system and gain advantage in that regard.”

In the fourth set of the night, the two squads were separated by at most two points up until the Burlington made it 15-12 off a net violation by the Trojans and an ace.

Burlington made it a 16-12 game on a hit into the net by the Trojans, that capped off a 4-0 run.

Fairfield did just what they had done all match long. The Trojans battle back within one, 17-16 and eventually took leads at 19-18, 21-20 and 22-21.

A service error by Fairfield tied the game at 22 all, and Burlington was able win out with a 3-1 run.

Leading the Trojans in kills on the night was Macy Rayburn with 15. Maggie Rayburn followed with 13. Addi Ferrel and Maya Lane each had six.

Maddie Jones racked up 46 assists on the night. Jones also had three aces on the night. Coty Engle and Kiya Robertson each had one.

Robertson finished with 16 digs defensively and Lilly Bergren had 15.

Fairfield (9-12, 3-1) and Burlington (14-13, 3-1) are now tied for the conference lead. The Trojans will take on Washington (4-16, 1-2) next Tuesday.