WEST HAVEN, Conn. — New Haven Volleyball spilt the weekend series against Stonehill College. On Friday, the Chargers won 3-2 (25-11, 21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-11). On Saturday, Stonehill took the rematch 3-2 (14-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-15, 15-10). The Skyhawks rallied from a 2-0 deficit, winning the last three sets, including a 27-25 third.
Game One
New Haven Volleyball (9-12, 5-2 NEC) defeated Stonehill (6-17, 3-4 NEC) 3-2 by set scores of 25-11, 21-25, 25-18, 20-25 and 15-11 on Friday in West Haven, Conn.
Marley Alefaio (Lakewood, Wash./Lakes) scored 19 points on a team-high 19 kills and the Chargers closed the fifth set by turning a 10-8 deficit into a 15-11 win.
Alefaio hit .279 and added six digs.
Lauren MacKellar (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Northville) finished with 18 points, 14 kills, two aces, nine digs and three blocks, while
Zaira Kearns (Fairway, Kan./Pembroke Hill) posted 42 assists, hit 1.000 with two kills on two attacks and added two aces and eight digs.
Camryn Harris (Loveland, Ohio/Milford) served four aces and collected eight digs.
The Chargers scored the first four points of the opening set behind kills from Alefaio and
Quinn Yenshaw (Williamsburg, Mich./St. Francis), plus a Harris service ace. New Haven stayed in front 8-4 after kills by MacKellar and
Josie Foster (Brisbane, Australia/Kelvin Grove State College), then ran off six straight points to move ahead 14-4 with Foster serving through kills by Kearns and Alefaio and a
Kira Lynch (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown Area) block on Abby Farrell.
Stonehill took the next two points, but the Chargers answered with four in a row, including an Alefaio kill, a Kearns ace and a MacKellar-Lynch block, to stretch the margin to 18-6. New Haven reached set point at 24-10 and closed the set 25-11 on a Stonehill service error.
Harris served consecutive aces to put the Chargers ahead 3-1 early in the second set, but Stonehill scored five straight points to move in front 6-3. New Haven worked back from a 7-5 deficit with a Foster kill, a Stonehill attack error and a MacKellar ace, then used two more Foster kills and another Stonehill error to build an 11-8 lead.
The set stayed tight through a 17-15 Chargers edge before Stonehill scored six straight points, including two Samantha Loyd kills and four New Haven attack errors, to go ahead 21-17. MacKellar answered with a kill and an ace to cut it to 21-19, but Stonehill scored four of the final six points and finished the set on a Haley Herndon kill for a 25-21 win.
New Haven moved in front 5-2 in the third set behind early kills from Alefaio and Yenshaw, but Stonehill scored the next five points, capped by Rosa Smith's service ace, to take a 7-5 lead. A Stonehill service error gave the Chargers the serve back, and kills by Alefaio and Foster helped New Haven string together five straight points for a 10-7 advantage.
After Stonehill stayed within 14-12 on consecutive Addy Frye kills, the Chargers won seven of the next eight rallies to push the margin to 21-13. MacKellar added two kills during the stretch, Harris served an ace and New Haven got blocks from Lynch and MacKellar, then Foster and Yenshaw. Stonehill extended the set after the Chargers reached 24-16, but Alefaio finished it with a kill from Kearns for a 25-18 New Haven win.
Kearns opened the fourth set with an ace, but Stonehill answered with four straight points for a 4-1 lead and later went up 7-3. The Chargers came back on kills by Yenshaw and MacKellar and a MacKellar block to tie it at 7-7.
Stonehill moved back ahead 12-10 before a service error and consecutive Alefaio kills put New Haven in front 13-12. The set stayed tight until MacKellar's kill and Foster's block gave the Chargers a 19-17 lead, but Stonehill scored eight of the final nine points, including back-to-back Loyd aces for a 20-19 lead and Farrell's ace before Annabelle Svenson's block finished a 25-20 Stonehill win.
Stonehill scored the first three points of the fifth set, but New Haven answered with Alefaio's kill and two Stonehill errors to tie it at 3-3. Stonehill moved back in front 8-3 before the Chargers cut the deficit to 8-6 on a service error, an attack error and Foster's kill from Kearns.
After Stonehill held a 10-8 edge, kills by Yenshaw, MacKellar and Alefaio pushed New Haven ahead 11-10. Stonehill tied it once more at 11-11 before Alefaio put the Chargers back in front, Lynch and Alefaio added kills and a Stonehill attack error closed the 15-11 fifth-set win.
Game Two
New Haven volleyball (9-13, 5-3 NEC) lost a 3-2 NEC match to Stonehill (7-17, 4-4 NEC) on Saturday at home at The Hazell Center. The Chargers won the first two sets 25-14 and 25-19 before dropping the final three 27-25, 25-15 and 15-10.
MacKellar led New Haven with 19 kills and 21.5 points, hitting .341 with seven digs and two aces. Kearns finished with 41 assists, nine digs, four kills and three blocks. Foster added seven kills on a .375 hitting percentage and posted a team-high six blocks, while
Payton Malinoski (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) collected a team-high 14 digs and added two aces.
New Haven took control of the first set after an 8-8 tie, scoring four straight points behind a Foster kill, a
Kira Lynch (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown Area) block, a Foster ace and a Kearns kill. The Chargers later stretched the lead to 18-9 and closed the set 25-14.
In the second set, the Chargers broke a 12-12 tie when a Yenshaw kill, consecutive Malinoski aces and a MacKellar kill made it 16-12. After Stonehill cut the lead to 20-19, Lynch's block put New Haven back up by two, and Kearns served the final four points to finish a 25-19 win.
New Haven pushed the third set to a 25-24 lead after rallying from 24-21, but Stonehill scored the final three points to take the set 27-25. The Chargers got late production from MacKellar and Lynch in the fourth before falling 25-15, then led 7-5 in the fifth before Stonehill used a six-point run to move ahead and close the match 15-10.
Up Next
New Haven will host Mercyhurst University on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. at The Hazell Center in West Haven, Conn.
