Syracuse, N.Y. – Lauren MacKellar registered 15 kills to lead the University of New Haven to a 3-0 victory over the Le Moyne College volleyball team in NEC action on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.
After the teams split the first 12 points of the match, New Haven rattled off seven straight points to take control of the set. The Dolphins answered with three straight points, but the Chargers responded with nine consecutive points and 11 of the next 12 to get within set point. Le Moyne stayed alive with four straight points, but then committed a service error to end the set.
Following three points by the Chargers to start the second set, the Dolphins answered with five of the next six points. After back-and-forth action over the next 18 points, New Haven scored seven of the next nine points for a 21-15 lead. The Dolphins responded with five of the next six points and eight of the next nine to get within 24-23, but the Chargers were able to land a kill to close out the set.
The Dolphins took a 3-1 lead in the third set before New Haven countered with six of the next seven points. After the teams traded 2-0 spurts, the Chargers used another 6-1 run for a 15-8 lead. The teams alternated points the remainder of the set, which the Chargers took 25-17.
Third years
Nina Salas (Austin, Texas/McNeil) and
Jazmin Rodriguez (Madera, Calif./Madera) led the Dolphins with eight kills each, while Salas hit .240 and had seven digs and Rodriguez landed .333 of her attempts. Third year
Skylar Jehlen (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) and first year
Katie Barbour (Durham, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) directed the offense with 14 and 10 assists, respectively. Fourth year
Haley Buescher (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) led the defense with nine digs, while third year
Alise Evans (Tampa, Florida/Oak Park/UNC Asheville) had four blocks.
MacKellar hit .324 en route to her 15 kills, while adding five digs and three blocks. Marley Alefaio landed 12 kills on a .435 hitting percentage, while Quin Yenshaw hit .360 on her way to 11 kills. Zaira Kearns facilitated the offense with 38 assists and also tallied 12 digs. Payton Malinoski led the defense with 13 digs, while adding five assists and two service aces.
The Dolphins are back on the court on Friday at Mercyhurst University at 6:00 p.m.
