The Fairfield volleyball team came up just short in a hard-fought conference matchup against Washington on Tuesday night, falling in 4 sets: 11-25, 17-25, 27-25, 23-25.
The Trojans struggled to find their rhythm early, falling behind 8-13 in the opening set before Washington pulled away for an 11-25 win. Set two followed a similar script, as Fairfield jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead but saw the Demons rally with 6 straight points, eventually dropping the set 17-25.
Fairfield flipped the script in set three. After trailing 6-14, the Trojans stormed back to tie the score at 14, later fighting off a deficit of 19-22. Fairfield closed strong, edging Washington 27-25 to force a fourth set.
The momentum carried into a tense fourth, where neither team led by more than three points. Fairfield battled to the final serves, but Washington prevailed 23-25 to seal the match.
Despite the loss, Fairfield had several standout performances. Faith Jones set the tone with 28 assists and added 8 digs. Natalie Steele led the attack with 11 kills, followed closely by Elyse Setterstrom with 10. Jaden Haynes and Leah Helmick chipped in 5 kills apiece. Defensively, Isabel McCready anchored the back row with 22 digs, while Lexi Mast added 12 and Mallory Wigle and Jones each recorded 8. At the net, Haynes tallied 4 blocks and Setterstrom added 3. Wigle served up 2 aces, with Steele and Mast each contributing 1, helping Fairfield to a strong 94.8 percent serving efficiency.
The Trojans now stand at 8-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Washington improves to 5-7 overall and 2-0 in conference.
Fairfield will return to action on Saturday in a busy tournament at Williamsburg, where they will take on West Liberty, 6th-ranked Beckman Catholic, and Des Moines Christian.
