West Haven, Conn.  – The Le Moyne College volleyball team traveled to take on NEC-newcomer New Haven in their first Division I meeting on Friday evening. The Chargers took the match in three sets, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21, as Le Moyne now has a 4-19 overall record with a 3-8 mark in conference play this season.  

In set one, the Chargers came out to a quick 4-1 lead before scoring seven consecutive points to go up, 11-2. The Dolphins fought back with multiple streaks of four or more straight points to come within one at the 17-16 mark, but New Haven was able to keep the lead and eventually take the set, 25-23.  

The Chargers went on another early streak in set two, scoring six consecutive points to take an 8-4 lead. New Haven extended their lead to 10 points, 20-10, and finished the set nine points later with a 25-14 victory. 

Halfway through set three, the Dolphins tied it at 11-11 and continued to remain neck-and-neck with the Chargers due to kills from outside hitters junior Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) and sophomore Nina Salas (Austin, T.X. / McNeil). Two consecutive kills from sophomore outside hitter Payton Horan (Miller Place, N.Y. / Miller Place) put Le Moyne in the lead, 20-19, before New Haven finished out the set and match, 25-21, with the help of five straight points late. 

Salas led Le Moyne with a team-high 11 kills in the match while fellow sophomore outside hitter Denali Louden (Murrieta, C.A. / Murrieta Mesa) and Lupton finished just behind with nine and seven kills, respectively, as well. Sophomore setter Skylar Jehlen (Rochester, N.Y. / Churchville Chili) put up a team-leading 15 assists as senior setter/DS Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier) added another 14 for the Dolphins. Salas rounded out the offense by also registering the team's lone service ace of the match.

On the defensive end, sophomore libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy) led with a team-high 10 digs while Louden added another nine, as well. Senior middle hitter Nil Ezgi Tasdelen (Izmir, Turkey/Ugur Okullari), sophomore outside hitter Jazmin Rodriguez (Madera, C.A./Madera), and freshman middle hitter Eiley Schneider (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) each tallied one block solo against the Chargers.

For New Haven, Lauren MacKellar (11) and Naliah Grannell (10) led in kills while Juli De Acharan added the match-high in assists with 29. Victoria Trunkl led the match with a pair of service aces, as well. Defensively, Payton Malinoski led with 14 digs as Josie Foster registered two block solos and both MacKellar and Grannell put together one block assist apiece. 

What's Next:
The Dolphins will round out their trip to West Haven, Conn. with another match tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1:00 p.m.