After taking the semifinal win over Bentley University the night before, the New Haven women’s volleyball team returned to Garden City, N.Y. ready to finish the job and take the Northeast-10 (NE-10) Conference Championship. After facing Adelphi earlier in the season and getting swept in three sets, the Chargers knew they had their work cut out for them.
The Chargers attacked early in the first set, with opposite side Peyton Mast putting up the first point for New Haven with a kill. This led the Chargers to a 3-0 run to open the match, with another kill added by outside hitter Grace Juergens. The momentum never stopped as New Haven held on to a strong lead throughout the entirety of the set. A service ace by libero Evelyn Kay Girard began the final push for the Chargers, which led to a kill by outside hitter Macy Brown that closed out the first set 25-13.
The second set was back-and-forth at the start as both teams traded opening points. A 5-1 run allowed New Haven to obtain the lead, with two kills from Brown and one from Juergens. Following this run, Adelphi called their first timeout of the game. Adelphi was able to take the lead shortly after this timeout, which led to a timeout from New Haven to regroup and slow down the attack. Proving successful, the Chargers came out of the break and went on a 6-1 run to regain the lead before Adelphi called another timeout. New Haven held onto the lead for the rest of the set, separating themselves from Adelphi before closing out the set with a winning score of 25-18.
With the opportunity to beat Adelphi in straight sets, New Haven went into the third set of the night looking to end the match early. Both teams traded points to start, but Adelphi made it clear that they were not going to go down without a fight. Taking the lead early in the set, Adelphi was able to hold the Chargers down throughout the third set. Taking their first victory of the night, Adelphi won the third set 25-18 to change the score to 2-1 in the match.
Opening the fourth set of the night, the Chargers jumped ahead early with a 3-0 run, which featured kills from Juergens and Mast. New Haven kept a short lead throughout most of the set with Adelphi trailing close behind. Tied at 20 in the fourth set of the night, the Chargers gave one final push to secure the championship victory with a 4-2 run with two kills from Brown. The stands erupted as the game-winning kill came from middle blocker Kylie Reynolds-Martin to close out the fourth and final set 25-22 and ending the match with a 3-1 victory for the Chargers.
New Haven finished the match with just two service errors and two receiving errors, while Adelphi finished with ten service errors and seven receiving. Brown led the way for the Chargers with 19 kills and 20 digs in the championship game and was also named the NE-10 Conference Player of the Year, joined by Michelle Henwood, who was awarded Setter of the Year. Following Brown in kills was Juergens with 17 and Mast with nine. Henwood added 44 assists in the title match.
The Chargers will now advance to the NCAA Division II tournament after winning the program’s first NE-10 title since 2017. For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.