West Haven, Conn.  – The Le Moyne College volleyball team closed out their season set against the New Haven Chargers on Saturday afternoon. The Dolphins dropped the match, 1-3, with set scores of 18-25, 25-15, 25-27, 19-25 and now sit with a 4-30 overall record while going 3-9 in conference play this season.  

The Chargers came out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening set before scoring five straight points to extend to an 11-4 advantage. The Dolphins came back to within four points late in the match due to a pair of kills by sophomore outside hitters Denali Louden (Murrieta, C.A. / Murrieta Mesa) and Nina Salas (Austin, T.X. / McNeil) and two straight services aces from sophomore outside hitter/DS Piper Hooey (Elmira, N.Y. / Elmira), but couldn't overcome the deficit and fell, 18-25.

Set two began with a dominant, 10-point streak from the Dolphins that included two kills each by Hooey, freshman middle hitter Eiley Schneider (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey), and junior opposite hitter Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) and a pair of services aces from Salas. New Haven worked to lessen the 'Phins lead to five points late in the set, but two kills from Lupton sealed the 25-15 set victory.

After going down by seven points at the 12-5 mark in set three, Le Moyne registered five consecutive points to tie the match at 24-24 on the back of two consecutive service aces from sophomore libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy). The 'Phins again tied the match two points later before the Chargers took the final two points to close out the set, 27-25. 

Set four kicked off back-and-forth with the squads tying midway through at 13-13 before New Haven ripped off seven straight points to extend their lead. Despite tallying three late points, the Dolphins were unable to tie the set and fell, 19-25. 

Lupton and Salas led Le Moyne with 15 and 14  kills, respectively, while senior setter/DS Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier) tallied a team-leading 25 assists in the match. Salas, Menke, and Hooey helped round out the offense with a pair of service aces each against New Haven. 

On the defensive end, Menke led the Dolphins with 14 digs while senior middle hitter Nil Ezgi Tasdelen (Izmir, Turkey/Ugur Okullari) tallied a team-high two block solos and Schneider recorded another two block assists. 

For New Haven, Lauren MacKellar and Victoria Trunkl led the squad in kills with 18 and 10, respectively. Juli De Acharan led the match with 35 assists and another three service aces in the win. Defensively, Acharan added a team-high 13 digs as Naliah Grannell posted the team's lone block solo and Kassadi Avent and Josie Foster tied with one block assist each. 

What's Next:
The Dolphins will return to Ted Grant Court for a weekend set against Mercyhurst University on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8.