After sweeping Saint Michael’s College on Saturday, Nov. 11, the New Haven women’s volleyball team took the court on Tuesday looking for their second straight victory against the Purple Knights in the Northeast-10 (NE-10) Quarterfinals. New Haven started the first set where they left off with outside hitter Grace Juergens collecting her first kill of the night. Saint Michael’s fought back and both teams traded points back and forth. The Chargers took a slim lead later in the set, but the Purple Knights tied the score once again.
Senior setter Michelle Henwood took matters into her own hands, serving while New Haven went on a 4-0 run. Henwood also added a kill along with outside hitter Macy Brown and middle blocker Amihan Johnson. This run forced a timeout by Saint Michael’s to interrupt the Chargers’ momentum. This attempt was unsuccessful as New Haven held the lead for the rest of the set. A late 7-3 run closed the set with middle blocker Kylie Reynolds-Martin tallying a pair of kills to end the opening set 25-20.
With the energy remaining high from the first set, the Chargers went into the second and immediately shut down pressure from the Purple Knights. New Haven led for the entire set, not allowing any momentum for Saint Michael’s. Henwood and Reynolds-Martin combined on the slide for four kills, followed by Brown and Juergens who both added three. The second set ended with a score of 25-13, giving New Haven another chance to sweep the Purple Knights.
The Chargers jumped out early in the third set with Reynolds-Martin and Juergens both scoring to provide a 2-0 lead. After trading points back-and-forth, New Haven pulled away with a 6-0 run in the middle of the set. Trailing by eight, Saint Michael’s called their second timeout of the third set. The Chargers were unphased, closing out the match with a 6-2 run with kills from opposite side Peyton Mast, Johnson and Brown. The third set ended with a score of 25-13, resulting in another 3-0 sweep over the Purple Knights. Leading in kills for the Chargers was Brown with 11, followed by Reynolds-Martin who added 10. Henwood had 34 assists in the match and Juergens had three aces.
New Haven will now advance to the NE-10 semifinals, where they will face Bentley University on Friday, Nov. 17. The Chargers faced Bentley twice during the regular season, beating them in five sets during their most recent matchup. The team will hope for a similar result in order to advance to the NE-10 Championship game, where they will have the opportunity to win their sixth conference championship. For more information, please visit NewHavenChargers.com.