WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven volleyball team remains unbeaten on its home court, defeating the visiting Assumption Greyhounds in four sets (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23) on Tuesday night at Charger Gymnasium. Leading the Chargers was graduate student Micki Impellizeri (Seaford, N.Y./St. Anthony's) who finished with 11 kills and a .500 hitting average.
The victory is the first in Northeast-10 Conference action for the Chargers who are now 9-8 overall and 1-2 in the NE-10. With the loss, Assumption falls to 4-11 overall and 1-4 in league play.
Impellizeri's 11 kills smashes her previous career-high of seven, which she accomplished on a pair of occasions. Overall, she finished the match with just one error in 20 total attempts, while also leading the team with six blocks, one shy of her career-best of seven.
Joining Impellizeri in leading the Chargers offense was senior Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and junior Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower), both outside hitters, who finished with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Lee finished the night with a .225 hitting average. Also joining Impellizeri with a .500 hitting average was Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) who finished errorless in eight attempts with four kills.
Freshman setter Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) finished the night with seven kills to go along with a team-high 23 assists and 14 digs. Joining her in marshalling the offense was Kennelly who finished with 20 assists.
Defensively, Lee led the Chargers with 20 digs, one of four players with double figure digs. Rios and libero Devin Smith (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush) each finished with 14 digs while Meghan Anderson rounded out the leading defensive corps with 12 digs to go along with six kills. As a team, the Chargers combined for nine total kills, led by Impellizeri's six. Lee and Bussey each added a trio of blocks to the overall total.
As a team, New Haven finished the match hitting .245 with 53 kills and only 15 errors in 155 total attempts. The Chargers also finished with five aces, led by Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) who chipped in a pair.
New Haven will travel to Oakdale, N.Y. for its next match, a Thursday night battle at Dowling. That match will be the final non-conference tune-up before a stretch of 10-straight matches in Northeast-10 action. Thursday's night's match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. first serve.
