ALBANY – The University of New Haven overcame a 1-0 deficit by winning the final three sets en route to a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 20-25, 21-25) victory over The College of Saint Rose women’s volleyball team in a Northeast-10 Conference match at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium this evening. The Chargers (9-3/2-0 NE-10), who are one year removed from making an appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, have now won 16 consecutive league contests dating back to last season.
The Golden Knights (9-4/1-1 NE-10) seemed to be well on their way to breaking up the streak following a convincing 25-17 first set triumph. Saint Rose limited New Haven to a mere .121 hitting percentage while committing only two errors of its own in 24 chances. Senior right side hitter
Jaclyn Griffin connected on all three of her attack attempts, while junior middle hitter
Kelly Ryan added two kills of her own.
The Chargers responded with a tightly contested victory in the second set. Junior outside hitter Sara Malmlov made it a 24-22 affair with one of her six kills in the set. Sophomore middle hitter Elizabeth Akinbiyi then punctuated things to give New Haven a 25-22 margin.
Malmlov continued to lead the attack for the Chargers by recording five kills and four digs in set three. Saint Rose was never able to get closer than four points throughout the latter stages. Ryan connected on a pass from sophomore setter
Theresa Staulo to cut the Golden Knights’ deficit to 21-17. However, New Haven scored four of the next six points to seal things.
The fourth and deciding set was marred by eight attack errors to go with a pair of service errors committed by Saint Rose, which recorded only six kills in the set. Conversely, the Chargers received seven kills alone from freshman outside hitter Keidy Candelaria, while Malmlov and Akinbiyi chipped in with two apiece.
Sophomore outside hitter
Sarah Kahrs led the Golden Knights with 12 kills and a match-high four aces. Ryan hit .400 while contributing 10 kills and three blocks. Staulo dished out 34 assists and senior libero
Mary German paced the defensive effort with 20 digs.
Malmlov led all players with 18 kills. She also picked up 11 digs and served up two aces. Candelaria wound up with 14 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore setter Chelsey Alpough handed out 43 assists and came up with 10 digs.
Saint Rose is scheduled to host NE-10 newcomer Adelphi University at 1:00 pm Sunday afternoon in the second of three straight home contests at the Nolan Gymnasium. New Haven returns to league action Tuesday night when the Chargers welcome Assumption College for a 7:00 pm match in West Haven, CT.
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