GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: September 3-4, 2021 LOCATION: Waldo Tippin Gymnasium  Clarion, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS (all matches) LIVE VIDEO (vs Clarion only)

NEWS ROSTER SCHEDULE 2019 STATS

THE LEAD
The New Haven women's volleyball team will open the 2021 season with the first of three weekend tournaments to open the campaign, as they travel to the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament hosted by Clarion University. Ursuline will be the first team to take the court opposite the Blue and Gold at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, followed by the host Hawks battling the Chargers later in the afternoon, at 2:00 p.m. The tournament will wrap-up the following day with New Haven taking on Saginaw Valley State and Shippensburg at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven will hit the floor in Pennsylvania for its first match since December 2019, going 16-11 in that campaign, including 9-4 in Northeast-10 (NE10) conference play. Just eight players return from that 2019 team, including junior setter Sammie Paguia (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) and senior outside hitter Ruby Fera (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) to help lead the attack, and junior libero Julia Guarniere (Milford, N.H./Milford) returning as one of the Blue and Gold's top defensive specialists, having led the team in digs with 490, just ahead of Fera with 343. The Charger squad that takes the court this fall will also include 11 new faces from the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes, including five players that make up the Class of 2025, and six players that joined New Haven via the transfer portal.

SCOUTING THE ARROWS
Ursuline enter the fall volleyball season after posting a 4-8 record in its 2020-21 campaign that was moved to the spring amid the CoVID-19 Pandemic. The Arrows attack will once again be put in the hands of senior setter Regan Nickol who led the team with 243 assists last season. She is joined on the hardwood by classmate Nora Clink who led the Ursuline offense with 123 kills in addition to her 114 digs on the defensive end, good for second best on the team. Saturday's match will be first-ever meeting between the Chargers and the Arrows.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
In its own pandemic-shortened season, Clarion went 9-7 in 16 matches last spring and have been tabbed to finish second in the West Division in the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) pre-season poll. Junior Julia Piccolino enters her third season with the Eagles after leading the offense in kills (202) and finishing second in digs (163). Senior Alexa Cundy will once again direct the Clarion attack, after tallying 401 assists to lead the team last spring, in addition to 120 digs, the third highest mark on the team. Friday's meeting will be the seventh all-time between the Chargers and Golden Eagles, with each side having won three of the six previous contests.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Saginaw Valley State comes into the fall after posting a 5-12 record in spring play last season, and return all but one player from that team. Junior setter Peyton Gerstacker returns to the floor for the Cardinals after recording 375 assists and 133 digs in the spring. Senior outside hitter Maria Vukaj will be counted on to lead the offense after being named to the All-Conference Second Team in the spring, tallying a team-high 225 kills, in addition to 208 digs and 25 total blocks. Saturday's match will be first-ever meeting between the Chargers and the Cardinals.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Shippensburg enters the 2021 campaign having last played in Dec. 2019 went 26-7 making the semifinals of the PSAC championships and earning a birth in the NCAA regional tournament. With the top statistical leaders from 2019 having graduated, a much different Raider team will take the court this weekend, that looks to be led by senior setter Syera McCormick who led the team with 44 service aces in 2019 to go along with 46 assists and 324 digs, good for third and fifth best respectively. Saturday's match will be the fourth all-time meeting between the Chargers and Golden Eagles, with New Haven holding a 2-1 advantage in the win column.
 
CHARGERS PICKED FOURTH IN PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
Upon the release of the NE10's annual pre-season coaches' poll, New Haven was selected to finish fourth amongst the 14 teams in the conference, receiving 131 points.

UP NEXT
The Blue and Gold will return home to the Nutmeg State for its next tournament, which will be hosted by Post University in Waterbury, Conn. The Chargers will first take the court Friday, Sept. 10 at 12:00 p.m. to take on I-95 foe Bridgeport before a non-conference bout with Bentley at 5:00 p.m. New Haven wraps up the tournament Saturday with a single match again the host Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Live coverage of the tournament will be available at PostEagles.com, with post-game coverage available at NewHavenChargers.com.