WEST HAVEN, Conn –  After turning the Elm City back to blue and gold, the New Haven Women's Volleyball team returned back to Charger Gymnasium to host the Setters of Pace University for a mid week matchup between the two conference rivals. With nine matches to go the Chargers look to close out the season strong that all started against the Setters at no better place than Charger Gymnasium for the blue and Gold.

Series History

Returning home with a 9-8 record on the season the Chargers look to pick up their second straight win on the season and improve upon their dominant series lead over Pace in the matchups history. Entering Tuesday night, the Chargers led the series against the Setters 48-7, and riding a five match win streak against Pace dating back to 2016. The Setters last win at Charger Gymnasium came in 2015 before their win in 2016 to take two in a row from the Chargers, the only time in series history the Setters strung together two in a row. With the Chargers coming off of a win against their Elm City rivals and Pace coming off against a loss to Wilmington, the court was set for the Chargers and Setters in NE10 action.

After a hot start from Pace, it was the Chargers that found themselves down early but Carleigh Vedder (Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead) answered the call serving for the blue and gold that rallied down two to being up three. With the lead, New Haven never looked back, closing out the first set with back to back kills from Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School), and Kylie Reynolds-Martin (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) to take the first set 25-18 and go up 1-0 in the match. In the second set, the Chargers and Setters went back and forth building up the suspense throughout the set. Late in the set the Chargers closed the gap scoring four straight with a major kill from Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) to force a timeout by Pace late. Out of the break, the blue and gold scored five of the next seven, with Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac), Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy), and Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School) all registering kills to force Pace to call their last timeout all tied at 21-21. The late comeback however was shut down by Pace closing out the second set with a kill to win 25-23 and even the match at 1-1. In the third set, New Haven went hunting for redemption trying to bounce back from the second set. New Haven opened up with the first four points going up 4-0 with kills by Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and Kylie Reynolds-Martin (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty). The blue and gold never trailed in the set and led by as many as five never letting the Setters truly find their footing in the set. In the final four points of the set New Haven picked up three kills with two from Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School) and Avery Moore (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community High School) picking up a kill as well. In the fourth set, New Haven trailed the entire set until the end when the band and the fans really got into the match. Itzel Cruz's (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame) service ace tied the set up at 22-22 before Pace took the lead again on a kill. Out of the timeout and hearing from head coach Christa Cooper, the blue and gold, answered the call winning the final three points first with a kill from Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) before an error on the Setters. To match point the Chargers, turned to their scoring leader Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) to close out the set and she did just that registering her 20 kill and securing the win for the Chargers 25-23. Brown led all scorers with 20 kills followed by Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School) with 13 kills and Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) added 10 kills. Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) added 53 assists in the match. 

Up Next

Following the 3-1 win over Pace, the blue and gold return to the road with a short road trip to Waterbury, Connecticut to take on the Eagles of Post University on Thursday. Just as the Chargers have been all year, the blue and gold again become road warriors before they return back home for their last non-conference matchup next week. All live stats and post game stories will be available at NewHavenChargers.com.