New Haven Defeats Adelphi 3-1 on the Road in the NE10 Championship.
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - The University of New Haven Chargers have won the volleyball NE10 Championship, defeating Adelphi 3-1 on Saturday night. The road win was the first volleyball title for the Chargers since 2017, and their seventh in program history.
While winning the Northeast-10 Player of the Year was rather special for Macy Brown, the outside hitter for the University of New Haven had a different piece of hardware on her mind as the Chargers headed to Garden City, New York for the NE10 tournament.
When host Adelphi had erased a three-point deficit in the fourth set, the message was pretty clear who would be getting the ball to lead the Chargers to victory.
Two of Brown's team-high 19 kills came when New Haven scored five of the final seven points for the 25-13, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22 victory in the NE10 championship game.
Fittingly enough, Brown had both hands on the NE10 championship trophy and held it aloft as she celebrated with her teammates after the Chargers won the program's seventh NE10 tournament title.
"My mentality is I know this ball is coming to me and I need to do it for my team and I want to do it for myself, nobody wants it more than me so I am going to swing at every ball that comes my way," Brown said.
New Haven coach Ana Paula Pego didn't hesitate in making sure that her best player had the chance to finish things off.
"The last few points it was all Macy," Pego said. "I kept saying to the setter, this is her year, either she carries us across the finish line or we are going to drop on her. She has come through all season. She has done a phenomenal job and she gives everybody confidence on the court. She takes responsibility, she asks for [sets] and she is a great leader."
Brown had 19 kills and 20 digs in the title game after putting up 19 kills and 19 digs in a semifinal win over Bentley.
The Chargers had some extra motivation since the last time they met Adelphi, the Panthers swept the Chargers.
When winning on the road, a quick start can work wonders and it was freshman Grace Juergens who saw to that as she had eight kills on nine swings in the first set of the match.
"She is a freshman and she has a ton of potential, she can get hot," Pego said. "We talk about covering for each other, playing with more heart when somebody is not coming through but she started the game hitting .900 as a freshman in a championship match it just says a lot, it says a lot for what is to come in her future."
"The one thing we have been battling all season long is learning how to play and how to finish a match," Pego said. "Earlier in the season on crucial points, we would get a little bit immature because we are a very young team so we would make silly errors and not finish a match. These last four matches, we have been on fire at finishing the games. This brings a different feeling, this is knowledge for everybody that the sky is the limit now."
Brown was joined on the all-tournament team by setter Michelle Henwood. Henwood had 44 assists in the title match after recording 42 in the semifinals.
New Haven (23-9) had just two service errors and two receiving errors in the four sets while Adelphi, which had won its previous 15 matches, finished with 10 service errors and seven receiving errors.
The Chargers were able to manage their emotions and play aggressively without giving away points in the most important match - to date - this season.
"There is a turning point for every team and when you are playing in the championship, you just have this mentality that you have to go all out and leave it all on the floor," Pego said. "We want to play for our senior libero (Rilee Jessee) who is only going to have this opportunity to win the NE10 and we came out successful today."
As for New Haven's future, they will be heading into the NCAA Division II Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, November 20 at 7pm at NCAA.com.
-Recap provided by New Haven athletic communications-
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Macy Brown, New Haven
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Lilyen McCarthy, Adelphi
Ellie Wheeler, Bentley
Macy Brown, New Haven
Michelle Henwood, New Haven
Claire Wohlleber, SNHU
ELITE 24 AWARD
Carmen Bernardis, Jr., SNHU
GPA: 4.00
Major: Business Administration
NE10 Volleyball Championship
Tuesday, November 14th
Quarterfinals – at Higher Seeds
Match 1: #1 Adelphi 3, #8 Pace 0
Match 2: #2 New Haven 3, #7 Saint Michael's 0
Match 3: #3 Bentley 3, #6 Saint Anselm 2
Match 4: #5 Southern New Hampshire 3, #4 American International 2
Friday, November 17th
Semifinals - at Adelphi University
Match 5: #1 Adelphi 3, #5 Southern New Hampshire 2
Match 6: #2 New Haven 3, #3 Bentley 1
Saturday, November 18th
Championship – at Adelphi University
Match 7: #2 New Haven 3, #1 Adelphi 1
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 12 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
