Women’s volleyball kicked off their season in the sunshine state for the University of Tampa invitational tournament, being one of five competing teams.

On the first day of action the Chargers faced Central Washington University who went 17-12 last year and made it to the NCAA Division II West Regionals. The Chargers dropped all three sets 25-15, 25-10, 25-8.

Senior Alex Bussey led the way with a team high six kills while hitting .417 for the match in 12 attempts. Junior Kristine Rios and senior Carol Martins finished with four kills. Rios led the team in assists (11) and defense with 11 digs. Juniors Brianna Mirmina and Lindsey Kim followed with nine and five digs, respectively. Freshman Angela Chan contributed with five assists in her Charger debut.

In the second match, the Chargers played the University of Tampa who went 23-9 in 2016 and also made it to the NCAA regional tournament. The Chargers lost in consecutive sets 25-19, 25-10, and 25-13.

The Chargers opened the first set when they hit .212 as a team with 11 kills and four errors in 33 attempts. Bussey led the Chargers with six kills, three blocks, and a .333 hitting average, while senior Lexis Peterson chipped in four kills, and Rios compiled 16 assists. Freshman Kali Greathead led the team defensively with 13 digs.

The second day of play the Chargers’ luck didn’t change, but they were able to win two sets in two games. The Chargers lost to both Western Washington University and Florida Southern University by a score of three sets to one.

The team came returned north to play in the Georgian Court Invitational. In their first game against East Stroudsburg University, the Chargers lost three sets 28-26, 25-19, 25-23.

Martins led the offense with 13 kills while Rios led the team with 17 assists. On the defensive end Mirmina collected 29 digs and Bussey protected the net with three blocks. The Chargers collected their first win of the season against Mercy going 25-17, 25-12, 25-16 in three sets.

Rios again led the Chargers on the offensive end with 22 assists, while Chan finished with eight. Greathead finished with 11 kills and a .375 attack percentage being the only New Haven player in double figures. Martins followed with nine kills while sophomore Mallory Nowicki, Peterson, and Garden all finished with five. Peterson led all hitters with as she finished with a .556 attack percentage.

On the second day of the tournament the Chargers split two games, losing to NYIT in four sets and beating Georgian Court 3-0.

In the first game, against NYIT Rios led the way with nine kills followed by Greathead and Bussey with six. Senior Fernanda Da Silva led the Chargers defense with three blocks, with Rios and Bussey contributing two each.

Greathead collected 23 digs with Chan and Martins contributing 19 and 18, respectively. In the win against Georgian Court the Chargers won all three sets 25-15, 25-23, 25-13. Bussey led the team in kills and blocks with nine and five respectively. Rios led the team in assists with 21 while Kim led the team in digs with 20.

The Chargers finished tournament play with a record of 2-6. The Chargers will look to get a fresh start at home on Thursday, Sept. 14 when they play Post University at Charger Gymnasium.