PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The University of New Haven volleyball team (14-8, 9-3 NE-10) battled back to force a fifth set before falling on the road at Pace 3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21, 9-15) at the Goldstein Fitness Center on Tuesday night. Leading the Chargers was junior middle hitter Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) who finished with a career-high 17 kills.

HIGHLIGHTS

·         Bussey's career-high 17 kills led three Chargers who finished with double figures on the offensive end as she was joined by senior Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) with 13 and junior transfer Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) who chipped in 11.

·         In addition to leading the team in kills, Bussey also led the way with a .394 attack percentage. In 33 total attacks, Bussey hit just four errors. Also among the leading hitters was sophomore Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) who finished with nine kills and Lexis Peterson (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor Central) who provided six.

·         As a team, New Haven finished with a .188 attack average with a combined 63 kills and 21 errors in 224 total swings. The Chargers best hitting set came in the fourth when they battled back from an early deficit with an impressive .300 hitting percentage suffering just two errors while hitting 14 kills in 40 attempts.  

·         Setting up the New Haven offense was Rios and senior Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) who finished with 29 and 25 assists, respectively.

·         Defensively, New Haven was led by freshman libero Charleigh Crews (Naples, Fla./Seacrest Country Day) who collected 26 digs, her third straight and seventh match of the season with 20 or more. Crews was part of five different Chargers who collected double figure digs including Rios who finished with a career-high 22 digs.

·         Joining that duo in leading the defense was Hacker with 18 digs, Kennelly with 17 and Lindsey Kim (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook) with 15. Overall, three Chargers who finished with double figure digs completed a double double.  

·         The Chargers combined for 10 total blocks, led by Peterson and Fernanda da Silva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Berlaar Sao Pascoal) who each finished with four. Bussey followed with three.

·         New Haven also combined for eight service aces, led by Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) who finished with three.

UP NEXT
The Chargers return to West Haven for their final regular season home match on Thursday night when they host crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University in the first of back-to-back days with matches. First serve in Thursday's Elm City battle is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.