WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A team effort hitting performance led the University of New Haven women's volleyball team to its fourth straight victory with a four-set (25-22, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23) decision against crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State on Tuesday night at Charger Gym. Only one New Haven player finished in double figures while seven different players contributed on the offense.
Leading the Blue and Gold overall was junior Mallory Nowicki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) who closed out the night with a team-high 11 kills while hitting .310 for the match with a pair of errors in 29 attempts. Following her on the offensive front was sophomore Kali Greathead (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) and senior Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) with nine and eight kills, respectively. Leading the team in hitting on the evening was freshman Jalynn Finnie (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) who did not suffer an error in five attempts with four of those resulting in New Haven points.
As a team, the Chargers hit .191 for the match with a combined 48 kills. The best hitting for New Haven came in the opening set when they closed out the game with 15 kills on 30 attempts with five miscues for a .333 average. In a six-two rotation, the senior setter, Rios led New Haven with 29 assists while sophomore Angela Chan (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) finished with a dozen.
Rios also led New Haven with six service aces, while as a team the Blue and Gold had 12 serves unreturned, the fourth time this season they have finished with double figure aces. The 12 aces as a team matches the season-high from a year ago, while New Haven hasn't finished with more than a dozen since November 3, 2012 against Stonehill (14 aces).
Defensively, New Haven finished with four players recording double figure digs, led by Greathead who closed out the night with 14. Chan completed a double double adding 11 digs to her credit while freshman Ruby Fera (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) matched that total while adding five kills despite not joining the hitting efforts until midway through the third set. Rounding out the leading defenders was the senior libero Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) who finished with 10.
New Haven also combined for five total blocks, led by sophomore Camille Garden (Atlanta, Ga./Landmark Christian) who finished with four total, while Greathead followed with three.
The Chargers will remain on their home court when they welcome the Saint Rose Golden Knights on Thursday night for an NE10 match-up. First serve against Saint Rose is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
