NEW HAVEN, Conn – Continuing their revenge tour the University of New Haven Women's volleyball team headed across the city to take on the Owls from Southern Connecticut State University in the Elm City rivalry match looking to continue the Chargers domination in the lifetime series.
Series History
The Elm City has been lit up blue and gold for the majority of the history between the Chargers and the Owls but for the past two seasons it has been the Owls taking the match from the Chargers first in 2019 and then again in 2021. New Haven leads the all-time series history 69-8 and were on a five match win streak before the Owls took the past two matches in five sets. With the Chargers revenge tour set and Elm City on the line, the Owls and Chargers took to the court at Pelz Gymnasium.
Emma Lazerson (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) coming off the bench as a sub and up 1-0 immediately put her name on the stat sheet with a kill to go up 2-0 early. New Haven dominated the whole match and never trailed following the early start. New Haven went on a seven point scoring streak capitalizing on Owl mistakes to go up by 12 which was their largest lead of the match. Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) closed out the first set with a kill to start the match with an exclamation point and take an early 1-0 lead with the 25-15 win. The second set brought the late set drama going into extra points. New Haven trailed early in the set, at one point by as many as eight before the ensuing comeback began. Following two errors by the Owls, Emma Lazerson (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) picked up a kill that changed the momentum for the Chargers, leading the Chargers to take 10 of the next 12 points. Amihan Johnson (Tacoma, Wash./Fife High School) tied things up at 22-22 with a kill before Kylie Reynolds-Martin (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) gave New Haven the lead 25-24. The Owls error on the last possession gave New Haven the 26-24 comeback set win and went up 2-0 in the match. In the pivotal third set, New Haven looked to complete the sweep of the Owls and turn the Elm city back to blue and gold. New Haven opened up the scoring again in the third taking an early three point lead and never looked back. New Haven never trailed in the third set and put together a streak of six straight to put the set away before Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) closed out the set and the match with a service ace to win the set 25-21 and win the match 3-0. 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. 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.
Up Next
The Chargers improve to 9-8 and return the Elm City to Blue and Gold with the win over the Owls and pick up their 70 win in the two teams history. The blue and gold return back to Charger Gymnasium for a Tuesday matchup with the Setters of Pace University. The Chargers and Setters tip off at 7 p.m with 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.
