On Tuesday, New Haven faced off against the Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) Owls. The Chargers swept the Owls, 3-0.
In the first set, New Haven and SCSU went back and forth exchanging points with dominant offense from both teams. After a ball handling error by the Owls’ Julia Jaworowski, New Haven had a five-point spree which put them in the lead for the remainder of the set. Middle blocker Amber Williams had back-to-back kills and libero Evelyn Kay Girard served five times and secured one ace. SCSU’s Victoria Pascual countered with two kills but it wasn’t enough to stop the Chargers offense.
Williams added another kill and outside hitter Sofia Kamke had two aces. The Chargers finished out the set with two kills from outside hitter Grace Juergens, a kill by middle blocker Katherine Rank, and a service ace from libero Carleigh Vedder. New Haven won the set, 25-15.
In the second set, the Owls took the lead with four kills from Raegen Emery along with the four errors made early on by the Chargers. SCSU had a seven-point advantage over New Haven until opposite Peyton Mast had a kill which then started Kamke’s six serve streak that tied the match at 15-15.
The Chargers and Owls exchanged back and forth points until a service error from SCSU’s Emma Dedushaj gave New Haven the lead for the remainder of the set. The Owls’ Emery had a kill but was unable to grab the lead as the Chargers finished out the set with a kill from Rank and three kills from Kamke. New Haven finished the second set, 25-19.
The third set began with a rally between New Haven and SCSU. The Owls’ Isabel Alvarez and Sarah Stark had back-to-back kills followed by two additional attacks from Emery. The Chargers countered with kills from Kamke, Mast, and Rank. After an attack error from New Haven, Rank secured a kill which put the Chargers at a 6-6 tie. New Haven took the lead after a ball handling and attack error made by the Owls. The Chargers kept their momentum as Williams, Kamke, Mast, and Juergens all had additional kills which put them at a 25-16 advantage to finish the third set.
New Haven finished the match with 42 kills while SCSU had 33 kills. The Owls tallied 14 errors and the Chargers finished with seven. New Haven’s setter Tori Borton totaled 37 assists out of the final 39. Libero Paton Malinoski kept the defense alive with 12 digs during the match.
After the win over SCSU, New Haven faced the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen and won 3-0.
The Chargers swept the Penmen 25-18, 25-13, 25-21, respectively. New Haven dominated offensively with 47 kills led by Mast and Jeurgens, each with 11. SNHU finished with 34 kills, led by Caelen Cook with 10 of her own. The Penmen tallied 20 errors while the Chargers only had seven. Borton led the Chargers with 34 out of 44 assists and led New Haven’s defense with 15 digs. Williams and Rank each added four blocks. After the shutout of both SCSU and SNHU, New Haven has an overall record of 10-7 and 2-0 in conference play. The Chargers will be back on the court at 7 p.m. on Tuesday to host the Saint Anselm College Hawks. The game will be held at the Jeffrey P. Hazell Athletics Center. For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.
