ASHLAND, Ohio. – Opening up their 2023 campaign, the University of New Haven Volleyball team traveled to Ashland, Ohio to compete in four matches at the Ashland Eagles Tournament in head coach Ana Pego's return to the sideline in her second stint as head coach of the Chargers. The blue and gold opened up their tournament with a double header taking on the hosts of the tournament the Eagles of Ashland University followed up by taking on the Central State Marauders of Ohio.

Opening up their match against the Eagles, the blue and golf turned to freshman Peyton Mast (Parker Hills, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) to register the opening kill of the set off the set from Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) to put New Haven on the board. Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) added her first kill to give the Chargers a two point lead following a set by Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina) getting her first stat as a Charger. In a back and forth set neither team was able to extend to more than three as both offenses and defenses stopped the other. Down the stretch it was the Chargers scoring six of the final nine points with Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) capping off the set with a kill set by Henwood giving New Haven the 25-21 win in the set and a 1-0 lead in the match. New Haven jumped out to another early lead in the second set and were the first to ten but it was a middle set run by the Eagles to take their first lead of the second set. The blue and gold closed the gap but it was the Eagles that closed out the second set taking it 25-16 and even the match at 1-1. The third set was a battle between the Chargers and Eagles and both squads capitalized on errors by both defenses keeping each other within a point of each other. Down the stretch it was the Eagles that closed out the set with an ace to take it 25-17 and taking a 2-1 lead in the match. In the pivotal fourth set, the Chargers went back and forth with the Eagles but it was Ashland that closed out the set and match winning the set 25-15 and taking the match 3-1. Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) led all attackers with 14 kills as Rilee Jessee (Edinburgh, Ind,/Columbus East) tallied 14 digs along with a pair ofn aces as Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina) in her Chargers debut tallied 23 assists.

In between matches New Haven had time to regroup and reset as tip off of their second match was 5:00pm looking to bounce back against the Marauders. The blue and gold put the pressure early on Central State forcing an opening attack error earning the point for the Chargers. After back to back points for Central State, the blue and gold tallied off nine straight points highlighted by a pair of kills by Katherine Rank (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa) in the series. The offense continued to hold the lead as the defense put an end to any pressure by the Marauders. A service ace got New Haven to set point and finished the set off forcing a service error on the Marauders to take the set 25-17. Up one set to none, New haven jumped out again to the early lead in the second scoring the opening three scores. With the early lead, the blue and gold built on their lead with another streak of six straight points with a pair of kills from Kylie Reynolds-Martin (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty), jumping to a nine point lead. New Haven built their lead up to as many as 11 and closed the set out with a block by Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) to take the second set 25-14 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Looking to win the match in straight sets it was the Marauders that struck first but New Haven quickly responded with two straight points, a kill by Brown and Henwood. The second match wad all about the Chargers going on streaks and New Haven strung off six straight again growing their lead to seven. Once they built their lead, they never looked back and continued to dominate growing their lead to as many as 11, and closed out the set with three straight points capped off with a kill by Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) to seal the third set 25-13 and taking the match in straight sets 3-0. Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) led all scorers with nine kills followed by Peyton Mast (Parker Hills, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) who added eight. Micheller Henwood tallied a double double with 14 assists and 10 digs as Lydimar Soto De Los Santos (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico/Academia Bautista de Puerto Nuevo) and Brown each had three aces.

With the dominant win in their second match, the Chargers looked to carry the momentum into their second day of the tournament with another pair of matches on Saturday as they first take on D'Youville in their opening match that tips off at 12:30pm followed by a matchup against West Liberty that tips off at 4:30pm. All updates, schedules, and post-game recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.