PHOTO GALLERY
WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven volleyball team (5-3, 1-0 NE-10) posted its first five-set victory of the season defeating LIU Post (25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13) on Thursday evening at Charger Gym. Leading the Chargers was sophomore setter Kristen Rios who completed her first triple double of the season with 14 kills, 24 assists and 11 digs.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Rios' triple double is the second of her career, while the 14 kills represents a career-high and is the second time this season she has recorded double digit kills. Among all the leading hitters, Rios led the Chargers with a .316 hitting average hitting just two errors in 38 total attempts.
· Joining Rios in leading the team was Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) and Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy). Kennelly led all Chargers with 15 total kills, a season-high, while Bussey chipped in 10. Leading all hitters overall in hitting percentage was Fernanda da Silva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Berlaar Sao Pascoal) who finished with a .455 average on six kills and one error in 11 attempts.
· Senior Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) led UNH with 26 assists, followed by Rios' 24, both of which set season-highs.
· As a team, New Haven finished its first five set match of the year with a .196 hitting average on 58 combined kills and 21 errors in 189 total attempts.
· Defensively, the Chargers were led by sophomore libero Lindsey Kim (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook) and Hacker who each finished with a team-high 22 digs, two of four total Chargers with 10 or more. They were joined by Kennelly (20) and Rios (10) in leading the team.
· The Blue and Gold combined for five total blocks with Fernanda da Silva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Berlaar Sao Pascoal) leading the team with three total, one solo and two block assists. Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) followed her with a pair of blocks.
· New Haven's best hitting came in the fourth set. Despite falling by a 25-20 margin, UNH finished with a .371 average connecting on 15 kills and suffering just two errors in 35 total attempts.
· The Chargers followed that up with a .261 average in the fifth and deciding set, pulling ahead by as much as four, 13-9, after a series of six straight ties. The last stalemate, 9-9, was finally broken on a four point run that included kills by Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) and Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower), putting the Blue and Gold ahead for good.
UP NEXT
The Chargers return to Charger Gymnasium on Saturday (Sep. 24) afternoon wrapping up two straight home matches with a visit from Northeast-10 Conference foe Franklin Pierce in a rematch of the NE-10 Quarterfinals from a year ago. First serve against the Ravens is set for 1:00 p.m.
