WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Returning to the court for just the second season under the leadership of head coach Christa Cooper, the New Haven women's volleyball team has announced a 26-match schedule marking the program's return to the court following the CoVID-19 pandemic. Among the 23 dates on the schedule, the Chargers will host nine matches in the friendly confines of Charger Gymnasium.
VIEW FULL 2021 SCHEDULE
When New Haven returns to the court for the first of three season-opening invitational tournaments, the Chargers will end a 637 day hiatus since last competing in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II East Region Championships on December 5, 2019.
The 2021 campaign will kick off on Labor Day Weekend when the Blue and Gold travel to Clarion, Pa. for season-opening Tony Banner Memorial Tournament hosted by Clarion University, a three-day event that is scheduled for Thursday, Sep. 2 – Saturday, Sep. 4. Joining the Chargers and host Eagles will be Shippensburg, Saginaw Valley State and fellow Northeast-10 member Adelphi.
Following the season-opening tournament at Clarion, New Haven will compete in two additional two-day invitational tournaments, the first hosted by Post University (Sep. 10-11) in Waterbury and the second by Roberts Wesleyan (Sep. 17-18) in Rochester, NY.
After wrapping up the early season tournament action, the Chargers will spend the next two weeks at home as they begin conference play and host a pair of non-conference opponents. The first team to visit Charger Gymnasium in the home stand will be the American International Yellow Jackets (Tue., Sep. 21), the first of back-to-back matches to begin NE10 play. Following the visit from AIC will be a weekend matchup with the Saint Rose Golden Knights (Sep. 25), before returning to non-conference action for the next four matches.
A battle of I-95 opponents will take place on Tue., Sep. 28 when the Blue and Gold hosts the Bridgeport Purple Knights at Charger Gymnasium, while a visit from the Molloy Lions will cap off the home stand on Thu. Sep. 30. The final two non-conference opponents of the year come in the fashion on a pair of New Jersey rivals, Georgian Court (Oct. 3) and Caldwell (Oct. 5).
A return to conference play comes on Oct. 9 when the Chargers take their longest league trek of the year to Syracuse, N.Y. for a date with the Le Moyne Dolphins. A mid-week visit to Pace (Oct. 12) is the final of four-straight road matches, with a single home match against Franklin Pierce (Oct. 16) the lone contest before returning to the road to take on Adelphi (Oct. 19) and Southern New Hampshire (Oct. 23).
After visiting the Granite State, the Chargers will host three straight matches at Charger Gymnasium, beginning with back-to-back days of action against Saint Anselm on Fri., Oct. 29 before hosting Saint Michael's on Sat., Oct. 30. The month of November will start out with the annual rivalry match against Southern Connecticut State on Nov. 4.
Following the battle of the Elm City, the Chargers will play their final two regular season road matches against Stonehill (Nov. ) and Assumption (Nov. 9), before wrapping up the regular season with a visit from the Bentley Falcons on Sat., Nov. 13.
The top eight teams in the conference standings following regular season play will qualify for the NE10 Championship, which opens with a quarterfinal on Nov. 16 at the home sites of the four highest seeds. The semifinals and championship match take place on Nov. 19-20 with the final four hosted by the highest remaining seed following quarterfinal play.
The NCAA Division II East Region Championship is scheduled to take place December 2-4 at the highest seeded team who submits a hosting bid. New Haven has hosted two of the past three regional Championships, earning the programs ninth trip to the Final Eight with a regional title in 2017. The season will culminate with the NCAA Division II Final Eight being contested Dec. 9-11 at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center in Tampa, Fla.
An announcement regarding the updated fan policy at Charger Gymnasium will be posted later this summer. All home matches and select road matches will be broadcast live, for free, on the Charger Sports Network, part of NE10Now.tv. Additionally, live stats will be provided for all matches with links available at NewHavenChargers.com.
