WEST HAVEN, Conn. – First-year head coach Christa Cooper announced the 2019 women's volleyball slate Tuesday, a schedule that features 25 total matches, including 12 home matches at Charger Gymnasium and eight opponents who qualified for last season's NCAA Championship.
"This season we have some big challenges on the schedule against NCAA Championship caliber teams," said Cooper. "It will prepare us well for a competitive Northeast-10 schedule and postseason run."
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Coming off a 2018 schedule that concluded with a 26-6 overall record and the program's 13th straight and 33rd overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Chargers will open the year at the Ferris State Invitational as Cooper returns to Big Rapids after serving as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs the last five seasons. Along with the host Bulldogs and New Haven, Bemidji State, Gannon, McKendree, Ohio Dominican and Wayne State (Mich.) make up the field for the Ferris State Invitational.
The Chargers will kick off the 2019 campaign early on Friday, September 6 with the first of two matches slated for the day, the initial against Bemidji State. Later that evening at 6:00 p.m. the Chargers will take on Gannon. Against the opening two opponents, New Haven holds a 1-2 record, defeating Bemidji State in the only meeting during the 2018 campaign, while dropping a pair of four-set matches to Gannon in 1989 and 1991. Gannon also represents one of four non-conference opponents the Chargers will face that advanced to the NCAA Championship last season with Golden Knights advancing to the regional semifinal round.
Day two of the Ferris State Invitational will also feature a pair of matches, the first opening the day at 10:00 a.m. when the Chargers take on Ohio Dominican in the first ever meeting between the two programs. The Chargers will close out the tournament at 2:00 p.m. when they take on Wayne State, a team the Blue and Gold has met once previously at the Warriors own tournament in 1998.
Following the opening weekend event, the Chargers will return to the Nutmeg State for three straight home matches in the newly renovated Charger Gymnasium. First on the docket will be a visit from the Post Eagles on Thursday, September 12. Bloomfield (September 14) and Molloy (September 17) will also visit West Haven closing out the early season home stand.
The next four matches will come on the road, beginning with a two-day trimatch at Molloy where New Haven will meet Lewis University (September 20) and Holy Family (September 21) at the Lions Quealy Gymnasium. Lewis stands among the toughest non-conference challenges for the Chargers as the Flyers come off a 29-8 season where they advanced to the national semifinals where they fell in four sets to third seeded Western Washington. Following the two-day event at Molloy, the Chargers will open up their 13 match Northeast-10 Schedule with back-to-back road matches against American International (September 24) and Saint Rose (September 28). The conference opener against AIC pits New Haven against the 2018 NCAA East Region Champion Yellow Jackets who have represented the region at the Final Eight in two of the last three seasons.
After opening up NE10 play, the Chargers will step aside from conference action as they return home for the first of five-straight at Charger Gym with Caldwell visiting on Thursday, October 3. Nearly a week later, Bridgeport will take the short tip north for a battle of I-95 on Wednesday, October 9.
New Haven then returns to conference play for a single match as part of a tri-match on October 12 when they host Le Moyne and Mercy, the latter of those the final non-conference match of the season. The Chargers will return to conference play closing out the home stand against the Pace Setters on October 15 with a single road match at Franklin Pierce (October 19) the only match before returning to West Haven.
Following the short lived road trip, the Chargers will welcome Adelphi (October 23) and Southern New Hampshire (October 26) for back-to-back home matches before the next three come on the road. The Chargers will open the month of November with back-to-back matches on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2 as they travel north to face the Saint Anselm Hawks and Saint Michael's Purple Knights. Rounding out the road trip will be the rivalry battle between New Haven and Southern Connecticut with that match scheduled for Wednesday, November 6 at Pelz Gymnasium.
The final regular season home stand features a pair of NE10 matches beginning with the Stonehill Skyhawks on November 9 before a Tuesday night match-up with the Assumption Greyhounds wraps up the home schedule on November 12. During the final home stand, the Chargers will honor their lone senior Mallory Nowicki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview). The D2CCA All-Region and NE10 Second Team All-Conference selection enters her final campaign with the Blue and Gold looking to become the newest member of the 1,000 kills club, needing 243 to join the elite group.
The regular season finale comes in the form of another midweek match as the Chargers visit Bentley on November 14. The top eight teams in the conference standings following regular season play will qualify for the NE10 Championship, which opens with a quarterfinal on Nov. 19 at the site of the higher seed. The semifinals and championship match take place on Nov. 22-23 with the final four hosted by the highest remaining seed following quarterfinal play.
The NCAA Division II East Region Championship will take place December 5-7 at the highest seeded team who submits a hosting bid. New Haven has hosted the past two regional Championships, earning the programs ninth trip to the Final Eight with a regional title in 2017. The season culminates with the NCAA Division II Final Eight being contested Dec. 12-14 at the Auraria Events Center in Denver, Colo.
