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WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The Cardiac Chargers strike again!!! The University of New Haven volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to force a deciding set before NE10 Championship Most Valuable Player Kali Greathead (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) heated up smacking four kills to lead the Blue and Gold to their second-straight and sixth overall Northeast-10 Championship. In addition to Greathead earning MVP honors, the NE10 Rookie of the Year was one of two Chargers on the All-Championship team, joined by senior middle blocker Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy).
For the match, Greathead led a pair of Chargers in double figures with 16 kills and a .222 attack percentage. Overall for the NE10 Championship, Greathead hammered 50 kills, which led the team, while she was second overall with 50 digs. The rookie outside hitter finished all three matches of the tournament with a double double, rounding out her championship match efforts with 19 digs, part of four players in double figures.
Joining Greathead in leading the Chargers against Southern Connecticut was senior outside hitter Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) who finished with 10 kills and also completed a double double with 11 digs. Bussey and senior middle blocker Lexis Peterson (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor Central) joined in the hitting efforts with eight and seven kills, respectfully. Peterson led all New Haven hitters in attack percentage with a .375 average, suffering just one error. Included in Peterson's performance were a pair of commanding kills in the fifth set, the second of which was the match clinching attack.
Utilizing a 6-2 offense, the Chargers relied on a pair of setters to captain the offense with junior Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) leading the way with 25 assists, while graduate student Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) provided 17 assists. Rios also added seven kills, while rounding out her 20th double double with 19 digs. The Blue and Gold also benefited from a combined seven service aces with Hacker and junior defensive specialist Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) each dropping three unreturned serves.
Leading the Chargers defensively was junior Lindsey Kim (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook) who rounded out the night with 31 digs, her second 30-plus match of the season. New Haven also combined for nine total blocks led by Bussey who finished with six total, a pair of solo blocks to go along with four block assists. Peterson followed with three blocks, all of which were solo stuffs.
With the victory over Southern Connecticut, the Chargers advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship for the 12th straight season and 32nd time in program history. New Haven will learn its East Regional first round opponent during a live selection show on Monday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
2017 Northeast-10 All-Championship Team
Ashley Hitchcock :: Stonehill College
Katy Teets :: Saint Anselm College
Leanna Jadus :: Southern Connecticut State University
Kali Greathead (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) :: University of New Haven
Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) :: University of New Haven
2017 Northeast-10 Championship Most Valuable Player
Kali Greathead (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) :: University of New Haven
