ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The University of New Haven volleyball team split its final two matches at the Eckerd Invitational, falling to Oklahoma Baptist (25-21, 21-25, 24-26, 16-25) in the early match before defeating UNC Pembroke (25-15, 25-20, 25-12) in straight sets in the afternoon.

HIGHLIGHTS VS. OKLAHOMA BAPTIST

·         The Chargers hitters were led by senior outside hitter Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) who finished with a season-high 14 kills. She was one of three players who led the defense with 18 digs.

·         Sophomore setter Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) led the team with a .269 hitting average, falling one kill shy of her second career triple double. Rios finished the opening match of the day with nine kills to go along with 16 assists and tied Kennelly for the team-high with 18 digs.

·         Freshman setter Charlie Crews joined Rios and Kennelly in leading the team with 18 digs, while also adding a pair of assists.

·         Senior setter Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) also finished with 16 assists, tying Rios in the team lead. She also added six digs.

·         Rounding out the defensive leaders was Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) who chipped in 10 digs.

·         Joining Kennelly and Rios in leading the hitting efforts was Nicole Morales (Moca, Puerto Rico/Carib Christian) and Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) who finished with six and five kills, respectively.

·         Junior Fernanda da Silva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Berlaar Sao Pascoal) and Rios each combined to lead the blocking efforts with three total blocks apiece.

HIGHLIGHTS VS. UNC PEMBROKE

·         New Haven finished the match with a .341 hitting average, a high for the two-match day. Overall, the Chargers combined for 42 kills, while hitting 11 errors in 91 total attempts. The Chargers best single set hitting came in the third set when they connected for 17 kills in 30 attempts with a single error, a .533 team effort.  

·         Individually, Nicole Morales (Moca, Puerto Rico/Carib Christian) led the UNH hitters with 11 kills, while hitting at a .261 clip.

·         Joining Morales in leading the offense was Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) and Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) who each added nine kills, while Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) finished with eight. Kennelly's eight kills came without hitting an error in 20 attempts for a .400 hitting effort.

·         Leading the top hitters in attack percentage was Rios who finished with a .467 average as her nine kills came on 15 attempts with a pair of errors.

·         Senior setter Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) led the team with 18 assists, while Rios contributed 14.

·         Defensively, the Chargers were led by Hacker and Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) who each finished with nine digs. All nine players who saw time against UNC Pembroke finished with at least one dig.

·         On the block, Bussey led the Chargers with four of the five total kills for UNH in the match.

·         The Chargers also finished with a combined eight service aces, led by Kennelly who finished with three.

NEXT ON TAP
The Chargers return to the Constitution State to open their home schedule with back-to-back home matches. The home opener comes on Friday, September 9, when UNH hosts Queens. First serve against the Knights is set for 7:00 p.m. at Charger Gym.