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Dutchess County's Theiller Helps Fairfield Volleyball Secure NCAA Berth

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Led by Hopewell Junction's Megan Theiller, Fairfield University won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference volleyball championship Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Quinnipiac on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. 

Fairfield University's Megan Theiller (2) celebrates with teammates as the Stags won the the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference vollyeball championship. Theiller is a graduate of John Jay and resident of East Fishkill.

Fairfield University's Megan Theiller (2) celebrates with teammates as the Stags won the the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference vollyeball championship. Theiller is a graduate of John Jay and resident of East Fishkill.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Fairfield University

Theiller, a John Jay grad, and the Stags take home their record-tying ninth MAAC Championship with the win.  “I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” said Todd Kress, the 2016 MAAC Coach of the Year for a conference-record fifth time. “They are great people who make good decisions on and off the court, and they have worked incredibly hard to get here.”

Fairfield (28-5) earned the MAAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA postseason, where they will make their conference-record ninth appearance. The Stags learn their opponent and destination on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 9 p.m. when the Selection Show airs live on ESPNU.

Fairfield has now won four of the last five MAAC Championships, going back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 and now in 2015 and 2016. Kress also collects his fourth MAAC championship, having won in 1997 and 1998 during his first tenure at Fairfield and then returning to win in his two most recent campaigns with the Stags.

Fairfield won by set scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-23, and extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 22 matches. Fairfield will also carry a 31-match winning streak over MAAC opponents (postseason included) into the 2017 campaign.

Tournament MVP Megan O’Sullivan had seven kills and three blocks the win over Quinnipiac. She slammed home a career-high 19 kills on .500 hitting alongside six blocks in Saturday’s semifinal victory over Siena. She is a two-time first team All-MAAC honoree.

Skyler Day and Theiller – also First Team All-MAAC selections this fall – join O’Sullivan on the All-Championship team after each recorded 18 kills against the Bobcats. Day, who is also the 2016 MAAC Player of the Year, eclipsed 1,000 career kills in the match. She has compiled 912 finishers in two seasons with the Stags after recording an even 100 kills in her freshman campaign at Buffalo in 2014.

The Stags’ last MAAC Championship win at Alumni Hall came in 2012. It was the first of Todd Kress’s four MAAC Championships that Fairfield won on the Stags’ home court.

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