Women’s Volleyball Caps Season with 3-1 Loss to Regionally-Ranked New Haven

COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team capped its season with a loss to regionally-ranked University of New Haven, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-23), during Senior Day on Saturday in the Ross Sports Center. Perennial Northeast-10 Conference contender and regional power New Haven was ninth in the latest NCAA East Region Poll.

The Purple Knights honored Caroline Curley (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), Brigid Heinrich (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill), Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]) and Maddie Van Winkle (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic) prior to their final match.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-20, 0-12 NE10), New Haven (16-10, 7-5 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Curley, 10 kills, .450 hitting
• Van Winkle, 12 digs, 5 aces
• Syverson, 5 kills, 5 blocks
• Heinrich, 4 kills
• Sophomore Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 27 assists, 20 digs, 4 kills, 4 blocks
• First-year Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 7 kills, 7 digs
• First-year Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 6 kills
• Sophomore Syrah Wright (Richmond, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union), 17 digs
• Sophomore Aaliyah Huihui-Martinez (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame), 3 digs, 3 assists, 2 aces

OPPONENT LEADERS

• First-year Kylie Reynolds-Martin, 12 kills, .478 hitting, 5 blocks
• Senior Emily Barry, 10 kills, 14 digs
• First-year Avery Moore, 10 kills
• Sophomore Macy Brown, 8 kills, 22 digs, 5 aces
• First-year Amihan Johnson, 8 kills, .375 hitting, 3 blocks
• Senior Sammie Paguia, 47 assists, 8 digs, 5 blocks
• Senior Itzel Cruz, 15 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights played their second regionally-ranked opponent in three matches.
• The Purple and Gold was narrowly edged in aces (11-10) and blocks (8-7).
• Saint Michael’s took its fourth set in 17 all-time meetings from New Haven, which has won nine NE10 regular-season and six tournament titles since joining the league in 2008. The Chargers qualified for the past 15 NCAA Tournaments, and 35 of the past 38.

THE ACTION

• Behind two aces from Huihui-Martinez and one by Van Winkle, the Purple Knights forged a 10-3 lead in the opening set and were ahead by as much as 15-7. Brown’s kill made it as close as 23-20 down the stretch, but Curley and Welch dropped kills for the final two points for the Purple and Gold’s first set victory over the Chargers since Oct. 31, 2014.
• Patterson’s kill gave the hosts a 4-3 edge in the second set before the teams traded big runs. Barry’s ace sparked a 5-0…