SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The New Haven women's volleyball team saw is season come to a close Thursday afternoon, falling to No. 5 Holy Family in five sets in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA East Regional Championship. The Blue and Gold wrap the 2021 campaign 22-10 overall on the year and 10-3 in Northeast-10 Conference play during the regular season, continuing a streak of now 15 straight appearances in the National Tournament and 12 appearances in as many years in the NE10 postseason.
On the night the New Haven attack slammed 61 kills on 189 total attempts, for .190 hitting percentage, assisting on all but three of those hammers, led in that department by freshman setter Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) with 54. Leon-Tabor ends the year with 1,298 assists in her rookie campaign, just 28 helpers shy of 10th most in program history for a single-season.
Leading the offense was freshman outside hitter Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) who scattered 20 kills across the five sets, followed by three other Chargers with 10 or more hammers. That trio was led senior right-side hitter Jessica Akiona (Kapolei, Hawaii/La Pietra- Hawaii School for Girls) who finished with the second-highest mark on the team with 13 kills, while the offense also earned five points off the serve, led by a pair of aces by Leon-Tabor.
Defensively, four different players corralled at least 15 digs, with Brown leading that category as well with 23, followed by junior outside hitter Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) with 21, Akiona with 19 and Leon-Tabor with 15. At the tape, senior middle Asiya Way (Denver, Colo./Denver East) finished with 2.5 total blocks, including one solo rejection to lead the team, ahead of Brown with 2.0 and a trio of players with two block assists apiece.
Sophomore libero Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) collected three digs Thursday night, putting her final total at 493 following her first official campaign with the Blue and Gold, That output is the eighth-best single-season mark in program history putting Jessee just ahead of teammate and fellow libero, junior Julia Guarniere (Milford, N.H./Milford) for that spot, with Guarniere achieving that feat in the 2019 season, also her rookie campaign.
Holy Family took a two-point lead early on in set one and remained in front until the Blue and Gold took advantage of three consecutive errors by the Tigers to take a one-point advantage. New Haven took the upper hand from there, but Holy Family kept within three points before calling timeout and slamming back-to-back kills to bring the match within one. The Chargers would hold onto the lead, fighting off one last comeback attempt by their opponents before a kill by Leon-Tabor and a pair of attack errors by the Tigers gave the Blue and Gold a 25-21 win in the opener.
The two sides would exchange first 10 points of set two five apiece before Holy Family rattled off six straight to take a comfortable lead. New Haven would trade points with Tigers once again, trailing 18-11 but were able to rally, scoring seven of the next eight points to cut the deficit to one. Holy Family would get one back before the Chargers scored three straight to take a one-point lead. From there the Tigers would score two of the next three to tie the match at 22 but the New Haven attack slammed three straight kills, including back-to-back hammers from Brown to take a 25-22 victory and a two-set to none lead in the match.
A closely contested third saw the teams' level on the scoreboard at nine, followed by six straight points by New Haven to take a 15-9 lead. The Tigers would creep back in, slamming back-to-back kills on three occasions, separated each time by a single point by the Blue and Gold. Holy Family would use an error and three more kills to take a one-point lead and force a New Haven timeout out of which they would bring the match level on two straight hammers from Brown. The Tigers would take the next two points, to end the set 25-23, needing a second straight victory to have a shot at the semifinal.
The Chargers opened the fourth frame scoring the first four points, but Holy Family was able to rally back quickly, and leveled the match at 11, as part of a 6-1 run by the Tigers who took a three-point lead. Out of a New Haven timeout Holy Family maintained its footing, extending a five-point advantage and forcing another comeback effort from the Blue and Gold. The Chargers were able to pull it off, bringing the two sides square at 22, and they would need extra points to decide a winner, with the Tigers taking the set 27-25 and forced a decisive fifth set.
Two straight points to open the final stanza by Holy Family gave them the upper hand early, and they would keep that lead for the duration of the set. New Haven was able to cut the deficit to as little as one on several occasions, but the Tigers stood tall and fought off the Chargers comeback attempts, taking a 15-12 to advance to the East Region Semifinals to take on top-seeded American International.
