2019 MAAC Volleyball Championship Preview

11/21/2019 10:00:00 AM

Fairfield, CT (Nov. 21, 2019) – The 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Volleyball Championship is set to begin Friday, Nov. 22 with two first round games. The six-team championship will take place at Fairfield’s George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall over the course of three days. Making this year’s championship are Fairfield University, Canisius College, Rider University, Marist College, Niagara University, and Quinnipiac University.

Tickets for the 2019 MAAC Volleyball Championship can be found by visiting maac.ticketleap.com or by visiting maacsports.com/VB. All games will be streamed on ESPN+ (links can be found below).

Fairfield (22-5, 17-1 MAAC) enters the 2019 Championship as the league’s top team, having collected only one loss on the season to the No. 2 seed Canisius (15-15, 12-6). Both top seeds will receive a first round bye and begin play on Saturday, Nov. 23. The Stags, led by six-time MAAC BSN Sports Coach of the Year Todd Kress, will look to capture the program’s eleventh title, sixth under his leadership. Freshman Joelle Battles paces the Stags offense with 3.03 kills per set. Senior setter Manuela Nicolini leads the conference in assists, averaging 11.12 per set. The Stags will face either Marist or Niagara on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

The Golden Griffins come into the 2019 MAAC Championship as the Preseason Favorites, led by Preseason Player of the Year Leah Simmons. Last season marked the first time the Griffs made the MAAC Championship Game, falling to Iona College 3-1. Canisius won a four way tiebreaker to claim the No. 2 seed, edging Rider, Marist, and Niagara. Simmons leads the Golden Griffins’ attack, averaging 2.84 kills per set. Hannah Nelson leads the MAAC in service aces, totaling 53 on the year and averaging .48 per set, while Camila Vazquez leads the MAAC in both blocks (1.14/set) and hitting percentage (.389). The Griffs will face either Rider or Quinnipiac Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

The first game of the championship will feature No. 3 Rider (15-15, 12-6) and No. 6 Quinnipiac (12-15, 8-10) Friday at 5:00 p.m. Both squads feature new head coaches in Jeff Rotondo leading the Broncs and Kyle Robinson leading the Bobcats. The Broncs, who swept the season series against the Bobcats, are led by standout freshman Morgan Romano. Romano leads the MAAC in kills at 4.59 per set, and sits third in the nation with 510 on the year. The first year star won MAAC Rookie of the Week honors all twelve weeks throughout the season, sharing the award twice. Quinnipiac’s Kaleigh Oates sits second in the conference in hitting percentage at .382, only seven points off the MAAC leader.

The championship’s second game will feature No. 4 Marist (12-6, 14-14) and No. 5 Niagara (13-15, 12-6) Friday at 8:00 p.m. Marist took both matches in the season series from the Purple Eagles, winning 3-0 and 3-2. The Red Foxes are led by senior Megan Fergus, who ranks second in the MAAC with 3.84 kills per set. Fergus has four MAAC Player of the Week titles to her name, more than any other player. Niagara’s squad features two players who rank in the top 10 in kills per set with Caroline Leitch (2.97) and Jaycie Roberts (2.86).

2019 MAAC Volleyball Championship Schedule
Round	Game	Match-up	Date	Time	Network
First Round	Game 1	No. 3 Rider vs No. 6 Quinnipiac	Nov. 22	5:00 PM	ESPN+
First Round	Game 2	No. 4 Marist vs No. 5 Niagara	Nov. 22	8:00 PM	ESPN+
Semifinal	Game 3	No. 1 Fairfield vs Game 2 Winner	Nov. 23	2:00 PM	ESPN+
Semifinal	Game 4	No. 2 Canisius vs Game 1 Winner	Nov. 23	5:00 PM	ESPN+
Final	Game 5	Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Winner	Nov. 24	2:00 PM	ESPN+

Keep up with all MAAC volleyball action by following @MAACSports on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and by searching #MAACVB. For championship information, visit MAACSports.com/VB.

About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39^th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.