Garcia, Rudeen, and Rich Earn Weekly Honors After a 2-0 Road Weekend
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ Volleyball has swept the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Weekly Awards on the heels of a 2-0 road weekend to begin the conference slate. Mayda Garcia ‘20 was tabbed as the MAAC Player of the Week for the second consecutive week, Taylor Rudeen ‘19 was recognized as the MAAC Libero of the Week, and Alexis Rich ’22 earned her first-ever MAAC Rookie of the Week selection.
"This past weekend was big for us in regards to sweeping on the road and coming from behind down 0-2 at Rider," said . "Mayda, Taylor, and Alexis were all instrumental in that success, and it's nice to see them acknowledged for their efforts."
Garcia, Rudeen, and Rich were among the driving forces behind last weekend's victories at Saint Peter's and Rider. The Stags were the only road team to emerge from opening weekend with a 2-0 conference record.
Garcia led all MAAC hitters over the weekend with 5.12 kills per set. She hit .145 and completed a pair of double-doubles with 4.00 digs per set. Garcia rounded out her weekly stats with three assists, three service aces, and six total blocks. After posting 16 kills and 11 digs in the Saturday sweep at Saint Peter's, Garcia hammered 25 kills with 21 digs in the five-set win at Rider on Sunday.
For the season, Garcia ranks second in the MAAC with a team-best 3.64 kills per set. Defensively, she adds 2.39 digs per stanza. Garcia earns MAAC Player of the Week for the second time this season, and the third time in her career.
Rudeen led the MAAC with 5.12 digs per set last weekend, totaling 41 in eight sets of work. She had a match-high 21 digs at Saint Peter's on Saturday and registered 20 digs at Rider. In addition to her passing, Rudeen chipped in offensively with five assists.
During last weekend's effort, Rudeen moved into 10th place in program history with 1,276 career digs. She ranks third in the MAAC in her senior campaign with 4.39 digs per set this season. Rudeen is now the only Stag to earn MAAC Libero of the Week in three different seasons, after collecting the award once last fall and twice during her freshman campaign of 2015. Her four total MAAC Libero of the Week nods rate one shy of the Fairfield career record.
Rich managed the attack in all eight sets last weekend, to the tune of 10.86 helpers per frame to earn her first career MAAC Rookie of the Week honor. She dished out 38 against the Peacocks and 48 at the Broncs, running the offense at a .151 clip. Rich also dumped over three kills of her own with 17 digs, five service aces and three blocks.
For the season, Rich ranks second in the MAAC with 9.71 assists per set, good for 16th among all freshmen setters in the nation.
This weekend, MAAC action comes to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall when the Stags host Manhattan and Iona. The Saturday, Sept. 22 clash with the Jaspers will air on the flagship Stags Sports Network while Sunday's meeting with Iona – a rematch of the 2017 MAAC championship match – will be broadcast live on ESPN3. First serve for both matches is set for 1 p.m. .
