A third-straight conference championship season came to an end last weekend for Fairfield volleyball, as they were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament with a straight-sets round one loss to Minnesota.
The Stags were simply outmatched by a Golden Gophers squad that ranks 17th in the country and had the home crowd on their side, losing sets by scores of 25-12, 25-7 and 25-13. Minnesota was paced by unanimous First Team All-Big Ten outside hitter Julia Hanson, who finished with 13 kills on .522 hitting.
“I thought we took too long to get going,” Fairfield head coach Nancy Somera told fairfieldstags.com. “When we passed well and stayed in system, we looked like ourselves and held our own. But our passing breakdowns caught up with us, and Minnesota knew how to take advantage of them.”
Mamie Krubally led the way offensively for the Stags, with six kills on a team-best .357 hitting. Allie Elliott added seven kills on .045 hitting.
Regardless of the result against the Golden Gophers, 2025 was yet another successful season for a Fairfield program that has become routinely dominant in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Stags’ final record of 25-6 signals their best winning percentage in a full season (.806) since going 28-6 in 2016.
They lost just one match at home all season, a five-set nailbiter against Connecticut back in September. Three players were named to the All-MAAC First Team, with Krubally, Elliott and middle blocker Maya Walker receiving the nod.
That trio, as well as setter Abby Jandro, has been at the center of the MAAC three-peat, setting a standard of excellence for all the new players that have come and gone since.
“The team culture is one of being unselfish, it’s not about me getting a lot of the attention or getting a lot of kills,” Somera said after the MAAC Championship win. “It’s what can I do for the person I play next to to help them be better?”
The on-court impact of such a mentality is evident. Five different players for the Stags finished the season with over 200 kills. Jandro split setter duties all season with first-year Zofia Sykut, and both tallied over 550 assists. Defensively, Walker ended up dead even on blocks to lead the team with sophomore middle blocker Harlan Wyche, a total of 126 apiece.
Walker, Elliott and Jandro are all set to graduate this spring, but as has been the case for the last couple seasons, there’s a strong contingent of younger players set to step into even bigger roles to keep the dominance going.
Wyche, who was named MAAC Championship MVP, will become the full-time starter in the middle. Outside hitter Katelyn Cook and right side hitter Emma Bortolotti will both see increased usage after already being part of the 200 kill group this year. Sykut will take on a heavier load at setter, and liberos Delaney Moon and Natalie Carlin will have another season of experience under their belts in the back row.
So in their pursuit of the program’s second ever MAAC Tournament four-peat in 2026, the Stags will have plenty of history and a strong foundation on their side. In the meantime, despite falling short in the NCAA Tournament, more room will need to be made for yet another banner in the rafters of Mahoney Arena.
