SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior right-side Jessica Akiona (Kapolei, Hawaii/La Pietra- Hawaii School for Girls) put on a dominating performance throughout the match, helping push the New Haven women's volleyball team past Stonehill 3-1 Friday night. With the win the Chargers advance to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Game Saturday afternoon, where they will take on the top seed in the tournament, host American International.

Akiona led the all players in the contest, slamming a career-high 21 kills and committed just two errors all night for a .514 hitting percentage, the highest single-game output by a Charger this season. Junior outside Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) was the only other player to finish in double figures on the attack with 10 hammers, while as a team the Blue and Gold converted 49 of 144 total attempts for a .174 hitting percentage in the match. New Haven assisted on all but three of those kills, with freshman setter Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) tallying 43, and sophomore libero Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) providing the rest, with Leon-Tabor and junior defensive specialist Itzel Cruz (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame) also providing a single service ace each.

Leading the defensive efforts was Barry who completed a double-double with a match high 18 digs on the night, ahead of 14 from Jessee, and 13 apiece from Akiona and freshman outside Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac), with Akiona also completely a double double with her efforts defensively. The block served to be one of the biggest factors for both sides in the contest, with the Blue and Gold combining for 10 total blocks, led by senior middle Asiya Way (Denver, Colo./Denver East) with 3.0, ahead of Brown and sophomore middle Emily Smith (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) with 2.5 each.

The two sides evenly exchanged the first ten points of the opening set before a 5-1 run by the Skyhawks to extend a four-point lead. Stonehill was able to keep the match out of reach from New Haven with four straight points later in the match to break out to a seven point lead at 20-13 before going on to take a 25-16 win in the set.

Stonehill would gain the momentum to begin the second frame, opening a 7-3 advantage early on, eventually breaking out to a 12-7 lead. The Chargers would score five of the next seven points to cut the deficit to four, before back-to-back points by the Skyhawks forced second-year head coach Christa Cooper to call timeout. Out of the break Stonehill would break out a 21-15 lead later in the set, putting the Chargers on the cusp of going down 2-0 in the match. New Haven refused to back down, scoring nine of the next 12 points to bring the match level at 24, before a back-and-forth battle pushed the set into extra points before the Blue and Gold took the set 28-26.

With the two sides level at one set apiece, they would once again exchange the first ten points evenly, before New Haven gained the upper hand with a 5-1 run to push the lead to 12-6. Stonehill would cut the lead to three a few points later, before the Chargers regained the momentum late extending the lead to five and went on to score four of the last five points in the set to take a 25-18 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.

Moving to the fourth set, the Blue and Gold came out firing on all cylinders, scoring ten of the first 14 points to open a 10-4 lead early on. The Skyhawks would counter with five of the next seven to cut the deficit to four, immediately followed by five unanswered points by New Haven to establish and eight-point cushion. Stonehill started to slowly creep back into the match late, scoring multiple points at a time, broken up by crucial points for the Chargers, who kept the score out of reach, taking a 25-21 win and the match three sets to one.

The Blue and Gold will battle it out tomorrow night with the host Yellow Jackets for the 2021 NE10 Championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA East Region Tournament beginning on Dec. 2. First serve from Springfield, Mass. is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. with the action broadcasted live at NE10NOW.tv.