THE LEAD
The women's volleyball team looks to maintain the momentum of a five-match win streak when they travel north to the Granite State and the Green Mountain State for matches against Saint Anselm (Friday, November 1) and Saint Michael's (Saturday, November 2). The Chargers look to build off of their most recent victory, a three set sweep of the visiting Southern New Hampshire Penmen, the first three set win in conference play for the Blue and Gold.
SERIES HISTORY VS SAINT ANSELM
In a series that dates back to 2002, the Chargers hold a commanding 13-3 lead in the all-time series against the Hawks, including a pair of five-set wins over Saint Anselm last season. New Haven looks to build on wins in three of the past four match-ups with the lone loss coming last season in the NE10 Championship quarterfinal round. New Haven opened up the series winning the first nine meetings, surrendering just two sets total in that stretch. Since that point, New Haven has won four of the seven match-ups, with four of those matches going to five sets.
SERIES HISTORY VS SAINT MICHAEL'S
New Haven enters its Saturday match at Saint Michael's looking to remain unbeaten against the Purple Knights, winning all 14 of the previous meetings with the series dating back to the 1996 season. In those 14 meetings, the Chargers have only surrendered three total sets and have swept Saint Michael's in each of the last four meetings.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven has won its last five straight matches and 10 of its last 11 heading into the weekend up North. For the season, three Chargers have battled for the top spot on offense with sophomore
Ruby Fera (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) leading the way this weekend with 186 kills. Joining her in the race for the lead is senior
Mallory Nowicki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) (184 kills) and junior
Kali Greathead (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) (181). The trio is joined by junior
Camille Garden (Atlanta, Ga./Landmark Christian) who rounds out the top attackers with 154 kills. Of the leading hitters Garden leads the way with a .253 attack percentage while she also adds a team-high 55 blocks, third most in the NE10. The Chargers utilize a 6-2 rotation at the setter position with junior
Angela Chan (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) (445 assists) and freshman
Sammie Paguia (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) (269 assists) splitting the workload. Defensively, New Haven has relied on rookie libero
Julia Guarniere (Milford, N.H./Milford) to do the majority of the work, racking up 348 digs, while sophomore
Jalynn Finnie (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) and Nowicki follow Garden in the blocking efforts with 38 and 36 total returns, respectively.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Winners in six of its last seven matches, including a sweep of Assumption in its most recent match, Saint Anselm is currently fifth in the Northeast-10 with the top eight teams earning a bid to the conference championship. Leading the Hawks into the weekend is senior outside hitter Catie McCarthy who has collected 251 kills, one of five players in triple digits for the season. Joining her in leading the offense is junior middle Elise Jolly with 176 kills is second on the team while her .248 attack percentage leads the Hawks. Defensively, the Hawks turn to freshman Caroline Belmontez for the majority of the workload with the rookie racking up 319 digs, an average of 3.94 per set.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
Saint Michael's enters the weekend searching for its first conference victory with New Haven second on the docket for the Purple Knights with a visit from Southern Connecticut looming on Friday evening. For the season, Saint Michael's is led by freshman outside hitter Sarah Scott who has dropped in 88 kills. Next on the tally sheet for the Purple Knights is sophomore middle blocker Grace Fornabia with 61 kills while she leads the team with 20 total blocks. Defensively, Scott also leads the way with 101 digs while she adds 10 service aces as well.
UP NEXT
New Haven will close it's a three-match road trek with a short trip from the West Haven campus to take on crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday, November 6. First serve between the Chargers and Owls is set for 6:00 p.m. as the Blue and Gold look for the fourth win this fall against the rival (Football, Men's Soccer and Field Hockey).
