PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The New Haven women's volleyball team earned its ninth consecutive victory Tuesday with a straight-set sweep of Pace. With the win the Chargers move to 14-5 on the season, and 4-0 in Northeast-10 conference play.
After trading the first four points of the opening set, the Blue and Gold went on an 8-2 run to extend a comfortable lead they would see out to a 25-16 win to open the game. In the second set the two sides went back and forth once again, with the Setters trailing 7-5, before another run by the Chargers pushed the lead to 16-8.
Pace would counter with six of their own, before a New Haven timeout halted the comeback there, as the visitors would eventually taking set two 25-21. The third set would be no different than the first two, with the Chargers up 8-7 early on, before a 6-0 run put the match out of reach, with the Blue and Gold securing a 25-15 victory in the set and a 3-0 win for the contest.
Overall, the New Haven attack converted 42 of 104 total attempts for a .279 hitting percentage, assisting on 37 of those kills, led by freshman setter Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) with 32 assists, who helped balance the offense all night long as five different players finished with at least six kills.
Senior right-side Jessica Akiona (Kapolei, Hawaii/La Pietra- Hawaii School for Girls) and freshman outside Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) led that group of players with nine kills apiece, senior outside Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and senior middle Asiya Way (Denver, Colo./Denver East) finished just behind them with eight, and sophomore middle Emily Smith (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) who finished with six.
Defensively, the Blue and Gold collected 49 digs on the night, led by Barry and sophomore libero Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) who each corralled ten, followed by Leon-Tabor with nine, Brown with eight, and Akiona with six. At the net Brown had the only solo block on the night in addition to a block alongside Smith who contributed four blocks assists and Akiona who provided three.
NEXT ON TAP
The Chargers will return to West Haven for their next game action this Saturday when they host Franklin Pierce. First serve from Charger Gymnasium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
