GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – In a matchup against two of the top teams in the Northeast-10, the New Haven women's volleyball team battled back from an opening-set defeat to take down Adelphi in four-sets Tuesday night. With the win the Chargers have now won 14 of their last 15 matches, including 11 in a row, improving to 16-5 overall, and with a Stonehill loss to St. Anselm Tuesday, are now the only undefeated team in conference play at 6-0 on the year.
Adelphi would grab a six-point lead early in the opening set, preventing New Haven from gathering any momentum on the attack. The visitors battled back late, cutting the deficit to three at one point, before the home side was able to close out the opener with a 25-21 win.
The two sides would exchange points back-and-forth to begin the second, with the Panthers gaining their biggest lead at 13-10. Following a timeout a few points later, the Chargers rattled off five of the next seven points to draw the match level at 17. New Haven would take seven of the final ten to take a 25-20 win and tie the match at 1-1.
The Panthers would take another six-point lead at 12-6 in the third set, forcing the Blue and Gold to rally for much of the second set, before finally taking their first lead in the set at 20-19. Neither side would give in late, forcing the set past the 25-point cap, before a pair of kills from the New Haven attack and a ball-handling error from the Panthers secured a 28-26 win and 2-1 advantage for the undefeated Chargers.
The back-and-forth trend to end set three carried into the fourth, with neither side able to break out to a lead for most of the set. With the score deadlocked at 17, New Haven rallied off eight of the final ten points in the contest to take a 25-19 win in the set and the match three sets to one.
As a team, the New Haven attack hit .175 on the night, converting 53 of 177 total attempts, and assisting on 48 of those kills. Freshman Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) led the offense with 15 kills to lead all scorers in the match, followed senior right-side Jessica Akiona (Kapolei, Hawaii/La Pietra- Hawaii School for Girls) and senior outside Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) who slammed 11 hammers apiece. Two other players contributed to the offense with senior middle Jalynn Finnie (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) and sophomore middle Emily Smith (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) contributing nine and seven kills, respectively.
Freshman setter Sophia-Leon-Tabor led all players in the contest with 42 to put her just 19 helpers shy of 800 on the season, followed by Akiona, Barry, and sophomore libero Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) who added two assists each. The Chargers also earned four points off the serve, with Akiona earning a pair of service aces, followed by Brown and Leon-Tabor with one apiece.
Defensively, the Chargers eclipsed their highest dig total all-year, collecting 106 digs, highlighted by career-highs from Barry and Akiona with 25 and 23 digs, respectively, to lead five players in double figures. Jessee and Leon-Tabor finished just behind them with 18 each, with Brown rounding out that group with 13. Barry also led the efforts at the tape with a trio of solo blocks and an assist, ahead of two solo rejections from both Finnie and Smith, with Finnie also adding a pair of block assists.
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The Blue and Gold will play the back-half of their two-game road-trip Saturday when they travel to New Hampshire for a meeting with Southern New Hampshire. First serve from the Stan Spirou Field House is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
