AMHERST, N.Y. – Behind four players in double figures and nearly a fourth straight triple double for Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef), the third seeded University of New Haven volleyball team (20-8) advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II East Region Championship with a thrilling five set (25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 16-14) win over the sixth seeded Philadelphia University Rams. Leading the Chargers overall was senior outside hitter Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) who finished with a season high 18 kills.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
· Kennelly's team-high 18 kills came on 41 total attempts with seven errors as she finished with a .268 attack percentage.
· Joining Kennelly in leading the offense was junior Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) (16 kills), freshman Mallory Nowicki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) (13) and junior Alex Bussey (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) (12). Among the four leading hitters, the rookie Nowicki led the hitting efforts with a .278 attack percentage, suffering just three errors in 36 attempts. Overall, all four of the leading hitters finished with a .231 or better attack percentage.
· Also finishing among the leaders was Rios who closed out her night one kill shy of her fourth straight triple double, putting down nine kills in 21 attempts for a .214 average. She also added a team-high 33 assists and was part of four Chargers with double figure digs with 19.
· As a team, New Haven finished the match hitting .244 with a combined 73 kills and 26 errors in 193 total attempts. Joining Rios in captaining the Blue and Gold offense was senior setter Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) who finished with 27 assists.
· Defensively, the Chargers were led by freshman libero Charleigh Crews (Naples, Fla./Seacrest Country Day) who finished with 30 digs, her second match of the season with 30 or more and one shy of her career-high. Joining Crews in leading the defense was Rios (19), Kennelly (18) and Brianna Mirmina (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) (12). Kennelly and Rios each finished with a double double on the night.
· As a team, the Blue and Gold combined for 10 total blocks, the sixth time this season they have closed out a match with double figure blocks as a team. Leading the way individually was junior Fernanda da Silva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Berlaar Sao Pascoal) who finished with a career-high six. Kennelly also finished with a career-best in blocks with five total while Bussey chipped in with four.
SET HIGHLIGHTS
· The turning point in the opening set came as the Chargers called for time with the score knotted at 16. New Haven came out of that break winning six of the next seven points to take the lead for good. Bussey capped off the opening set rejecting the Philadelphia attack with a solo block.
· Kennelly led New Haven in the opening set, finishing without an error while hitting six kills in 12 total attacks for a .500 average. Rios and Martins each added four kills, with Rios also not hitting an error in the set.
· New Haven built as much as a 13-8 in the second set before the Rams began clawing back. That lead for New Haven came after seeing the set tied at five and then winning the next three points all on Philadelphia errors. The Rams secured the set victory with a late run, which amounted to the Rams winning 13 of the last 15 points.
· Leading the Chargers in the second set was Bussey who finished with four kills, while Rios added three.
· In the third set neither team would lead by more than three points throughout, with the two squads knotted up on 14 different occasions. The turning points came late in the set when the Chargers faced a 19-16 deficit and answered with kills from Kennelly, Nowicki and Rios forcing Philadelphia to call for time, tied at 19.
· After facing ties at 20, 22, 23, 24 and 25, the Chargers offense came alive with kills from Nowicki to set up set point and a hammer from Kennelly that ended the battle in favor of New Haven 27-25.
· Leading the Blue and Gold in the third set was Martins with five kills while Kennelly and Nowicki each threw down seven.
· New Haven looked to be taking control in the fourth set when after facing a 14-12 deficit the Chargers rattled of six of the next seven points to take an 18-15 lead with the largest lead at that point coming on a Philadelphia error. Also included in that run were kills from Rios, Kennelly and Bussey.
· Philadelphia battled back to tie the set at 20 before going on to score five of the final seven points to secure the victory and force the deciding set. Leading the Blue and Gold in the fourth set was Martins with four kills, while Bussey and Nowicki each added a trio.
· New Haven would never trail in the final set, opening things up by scoring the first two points on kills from Bussey and Nowicki. Back-to-back kills from Martins and da Silva provided the largest lead for New Haven at 6-2.
· The Chargers continuously kept their lead at three points, however the Rams continued to battle back throughout, eventually tying the set at 14-14. New Haven answered that with a kill from Martins forcing match point with the Rams suffering a hitting error leading to the Blue and Gold victory.
· Leading New Haven in the deciding set was Kennelly and Martins who each compiled three kills, while Bussey and Nowicki added a pair each.
UP NEXT
The Chargers advanced to the regional semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years and will take on the winner between second seed and host Daemen and seventh seeded Post University. Opening serve for New Haven's semifinal match is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Daemen's Lumsden Gymnasium.
2016 NCAA Division II East Region Championship
at Lumsden Gymnasium (Daemen College)
Quarterfinals - Thursday, December 1
Match 1 :: #4 American International 3, #5 Le Moyne 0
Match 2 :: #1 NYIT 3, #8 Adelphi 1
Match 3 :: #3 New Haven 3 vs #6 Philadelphia University 2
Match 4 :: #2 Daemen vs #7 Post :: 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals - Friday, December 2
Match 5 :: #1 NYIT vs. #4 American International :: 5:00 p.m.
Match 6 :: Winner Match 3 vs Winner Match 4 :: 7:30 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, December 3
Match 7 :: Winner Match 5 vs Winner Match 6 :: 5:00 p.m.
