NEW HAVEN, Conn – Back on the road and back to Pelz Gymnasium, the University of New Haven Women's Volleyball team took on the Southern Connecticut State University in the two teams conference matchup. The Chargers looked to go two in a row against the Owls and get back on a win streak to close out the regular season.

Series History

In the second matchup between the Chargers and the Owls at Pelz Gymnasium of the 2022 season New Haven looked to sweep their cross town rivals keeping the city Blue and Gold. New Haven swept the Owls in the first matchup, a non conference match, but this meeting put the city and conference on the line for both teams. In the first meeting Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) led all scorers with 12 kills followed by Avery Moore (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community High School) and Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School) each with five kills and Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) led the way with 28 assists and Kylie Reynolds-Martin (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) had four blocks at the net for New Haven in the 3-0 win in early October. Looking for win number 81 the Chargers looked to enter Halloween Weekend riding the high of a rivalry win.

The Owls took the first two points of the match, but after a handling error on the Owls and the first Chargers kill by Avery Moore (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community High School), New Haven went on a six point scoring streak led by Avery Moore (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community High School) with three kills and a pair of aces to take a 7-2 lead. The early lead carried through the entire match as the blue and gold never trailed through the set. A late run highlighted by a pair of kills from Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) and a service ace from Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) put the set out of reach of the Owls as Avery Moore (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community High School) got the set to set point with a kill before she finished it with a kill to take the opening set 25-17. New Haven opened up the second set right where they left off the first, scoring  the opening five points with a pair of kills from Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac), and a kill from both Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School). The Owls tied things up through the middle of the set and the two teams went back and forth before the New Haven lead grew back up to three with kills by Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy), Kylie Reynolds-Martin (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and Avery Moore (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community High School). After that lead the owls mounted their comeback and took the lead late. Moore got the Chargers to 20 with her kill but the Owls evened the match at one on the next point sealing the 25-20 set win. After dropping the second set to the Owls, the Chargers traded points with the Owls to start the third, but Emily Barry (Freeport, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) changed the set opening up a streak for the blue and gold where she scored three kills and Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) dropped in a service ace to give the Chargers a six point lead that grew to as many as 13. After Barry's scoring streak New Haven put together a three point and two point scoring streak before closing the set out scoring the last five two from kills, one from Moore and the other from Reynolds-Martin, before Jessee shut the door with an ace to take the set 25-12 and go up 2-1 in the match. With the dominant win in the third, New Haven repeated their process and scoring strategy. After trading the first ten points and being even at five, the Chargers put up six straight off errors by the Owls along with Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School) coming up big at the net with a block and riding the hot hands of Barry and Brown. Up seven the blue and gold doubled up their lead with a pair of kills from Reynolds-Martin along with kills from Moore and Brown to make it 23-9. The Owls put up three to get into double digits for points, but Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) and Sophia Leon-Tabor (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) didn't want to wait any longer claim the city as their own and the pair connected for back to back Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) kills from Leon-Tabor to win the set 25-12 and win the match 3-1.  

Up Next

With the win the Chargers improve to 14-10 overall and 5-4 in the NE10 all while keeping the Elm City  Blue and Gold with the win over the Owls. New Haven returns back to Charger Gymnasium for their final home match of the regular season when the blue and gold welcome the Assumption University Greyhounds to West Haven on Tuesday November 1 with tip-off at 7:00 p.m. Live stream stats and broadcast on the Charger Sports Network, and all post-game coverage, stats and stories for both games will be available at NewHavenChargers.com.