WEST HAVEN, CONN. – The University of New Haven volleyball team (10-6, 5-1 NE-10) dropped its first Northeast-10 Conference match of the season, falling in five sets (25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 15-25, 11-15) to the visiting Saint Anselm Hawks on Friday night. Leading the way for New Haven was Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) and Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) who each finished with 14 kills.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Rios and Kennelly led four Chargers who finished in double figures, joined by Mallory Nowicki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) and Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) who chipped in 11 and 10, respectively. Among the four leading hitters, Rios led the way with a .306 hitting average with three errors in 36 total attempts.
· Rios also added double figures in assists (28) and digs (17), completing her fifth triple double of the season. Her 28 assists led New Haven, while senior setter Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) added 24.
· Also adding to the hitting efforts was Lexis Peterson (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor Central) and Nicole Morales (Moca, Puerto Rico/Carib Christian) who finished with six and three kills, respectively. Peterson closed out the match second overall on the team with a .286 hitting average, suffering a pair of errors in 14 attempts.
· As a team, New Haven hit .179 for the match, combining for 58 total kills with 25 errors in 184 attempts. The Chargers best hitting came in the opening set when they finished with a .273 average on a team total 16 kills and four errors in 44 swings.
· Defensively, the Chargers were led by Kennelly who rounded out her ninth double double of the season with 22 digs. Joining her with 20-plus defensive stops was freshman libero Charleigh Crews (Naples, Fla./Seacrest Country Day) who closed out the match with 21. Overall, all 11 players who saw time against Saint Anselm finished with at least one dig.
· As a team, the Chargers combined for nine blocks, led by Peterson who finished with five total, including a pair of solo put backs. Fernanda da Silva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Berlaar Sao Pascoal) finished just behind her with four total blocks.
· The Blue and Gold also combined for eight service aces, led by Kennelly who finished with three and Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) who added a pair.
UP NEXT
The Chargers return to action in just 24 hours when they welcome the Saint Michael's Purple Knights to Charger Gymnasium, rounding out a three-match home stand. First serve in the NE-10 battle is set for 7:00 p.m.
