WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven volleyball team (14-7, 9-2 NE-10) picked up its fifth victory in the last six matches on Saturday night, defeating the Bentley Falcons in three sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-16). Leading the way for New Haven was senior Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) who finished with a match-high 13 kills and a .222 hitting average with three errors in 45 attempts.

HIGHLIGHTS

·         Prior to the match, in honor of Senior Day, New Haven honored their two senior members, setter Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) and outside hitter Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) for their commitment to the Charger Nation program.

·         The Blue and Gold's best performance of the night came in the second set when they trailed by as much as four late. New Haven would rally for the victory by scoring seven of the final eight points to take the 25-22 victory thanks to a kill by Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil). Overall in that stretch, Martins had two kills, while Lindsey Kim (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook) added an ace on a let serve.

·         The 13 kills for Kennelly was one of two players who finished in double figures as Martins joined her in leading the team with 10 kills. Junior Lexis Peterson (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor Central) (seven kills), junior Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) (six kills) and sophomore Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) (five kills).

·         Among all the New Have hitters in the match freshman Mallory Nowicki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) led the way with a .400 hitting average with four kills and no errors in 10 attempts. As a team, the Blue and Gold finished the match with .162 average on 46 combined kills and 21 errors in 154 attempts.

·         New Haven's single best hitting set of the match came in the third set when they finished with a .262 average on 17 kills and six errors on 42 total attempts.

·         Setting up the New Haven offense was Hacker and Rios who finished with 23 and 14 assists, respectively.

·         Defensively, New Haven was led by freshman libero Charleigh Crews (Naples, Fla./Seacrest Country Day) who collected a career-high 31 digs, her sixth match of the season with 20 or more. Crews was part of four different Chargers who collected double figure digs. The 11 digs for Kennelly also pushes her into the 1,000 digs club. 

·         Joining her in leading the defense was Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) with 14 digs, Kennelly with 11 and Rios with 10, the latter two completing a double double for each.

·         The Chargers combined for eight total blocks, led by Peterson who finished with five. Rios and Bussey followed with four and three, respectively. .

·         New Haven also combined for three service aces, led by Kim who finished with a pair.

UP NEXT
The Chargers begin the final week of the regular season with the first of three matches over the next six days with a trip to Pleasantville, N.Y. to take on the Pace Setters. First serve in the Northeast-10 match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Charger Gym.