WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A career-high ten kills for senior middle Asiya Way (Denver, Colo./Denver East) helped lead the second seeded New Haven women's volleyball team to a four-set victory over seventh seeded Southern New Hampshire in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship.
The Chargers offense dropped 56 kills and committed just 14 errors on 146 total attempts for a .288 hitting percentage on the night, including two sets where they committed just one error. 50 of those hammers came via an assist, with freshman setter Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) leading the way with 47 helpers.
The Blue and Gold attack was paced by 14 kills from freshman outside Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) who also added a pair of service aces in the match. Following her in the hitting department was senior outside Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) with 13 and senior right-side Jessica Akiona (Kapolei, Hawaii/La Pietra- Hawaii School for Girls) with 12.
Defensively, New Haven corralled 79 digs across the four sets while also combining for 10 total blocks at the net. Sophomore libero Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) led the dig totals with 20, ahead of Akiona with 17 and Brown with 13. Way led the efforts on the block with three total including, tied with Barry who had two solos and a pair of block assists.
With the win the Chargers advance to the NE10 Semifinals Friday where they will take on the three seed, Stonehill who took down sixth seeded Saint Anselm in four sets Tuesday night. The match will be held at American International College after the Yellow Jackets advanced in straight sets over eighth seeded Assumption. The Chargers and Skyhawks will play the second semifinal match at 7:30 Friday night, with the action available via NE10NOW.tv. The winner will of each semifinal will go on to play for the 2021 NE10 Title the following day also at AIC.
