TAMPA, Florida. – The defending Northeast 10 Champions, the University of New Haven Women's Volleyball team opened up their 2024 campaign with a trip to the Sunshine State to compete in the Courtyard by Marriot Tampa Volleyball Classic, for a set of three matches, one of which being against the second-ranked team in the country and the host, the University of Tampa.
After claiming the NE10 crown in her first season as head coach, Ana Pego set the standards high for her squad that will look to repeat. The Chargers are led by senior captain and the reigning East Region and NE10 Player of the Year Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) alongside Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) and Payton Mast who were each named to the conference's rookie teams a year ago. New Haven is tasked with replacing their senior setter Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina) who was named setter of the year and adding regional and national recognitions for her stats in the season. Alongside Brown, Juergens, and Mast New Haven returns five members of last year's team while adding eight new faces to the squad.
Opening up their tournament, the Chargers took on the Chargers of Hillsdale College in a first-ever meeting between these two Chargers. Juergens started where she left off last season getting the first Chargers kill to tie the opening set back up at one. Early on it was a horse race between the two Chargers, trading points as each team worked through their first sets of the new season. A late surge led off by a kill from Naliah Grannell (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) put the blue and gold within three in the opening set, but Hillsdale was able to close out the set with a kill to take the early lead in the match 1-0. Hillsdale started hot in the second set to take an early lead, but New Haven battled right back in as Juergens again put New Haven on the board, and Evelyn Kay Girard (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich Academy) added a service ace in a four-point run for the blue and gold to battle the score back close. New Haven continued to battle and put rallies together and took a lead, but Hillsdale was able to respond and retake the lead in the set late winning 26-24 and going up 2-0 in the match. In the third set, The two teams traded the first six points of the set but it was Hillsdale that was able to set together a few runs to take the lead over New Haven. The blue and gold put the pressure on at down the stretch scoring three straight with Juergens adding her eighth kill of the match but Hillsdale was able to get the match point off a kill to win 25-20 and 3-0 in the match. Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) led New Haven with 8 kills as Tori Borton (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) picked up 13 assists and defensively Carleigh Vedder (Moorehead, Minn./Moorehead) led the blue and gold with 13 digs.
The blue and gold now return to the court for a pair of matches, the first opening up against the host team and second-ranked team in the country, the University of Tampa with the first tip scheduled for 11:00 a.m. followed by a match up against Texas Woman's with the first tip at 5:15 p.m. All updates, schedules, and post-match recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.
