West Haven, Conn. - The volleyball team returned to action in a hard-fought five set loss at the University of New Haven, with each of the first four sets being decided by a margin of just three points or fewer. Molloy fell to 7-2 on the season while UNH improved to 3-4 with the victory.

Molloy 25, New Haven 23
New Haven 25, Molloy 23
Molloy 25, New Haven 22
New Haven 27, Molloy 25
New Haven 15, Molloy 8


How it Happened

• Molloy started the contest off strong, taking a 4-1 lead. The Chargers responded by taking four of the next five points to knot the score.
• The Lions pulled in front once again, taking a 17-11 lead on the serving of junior Kacey Affrunti.
• New Haven would come within one, 23-22 and 24-23, but a kill from senior Sophia Smith gave the Lions the first set.
• The visitors took an early 5-0 lead in the second set, but a 6-0 run from New Haven knotted the contest, 14-14.
• A second six-point run gave UNH a 22-17 lead, from which Molloy was unable to recover.
• After playing from behind most of the third set, the maroon and white were able to tie the contest, 21-21. before taking the 25-22 victory.
• Despite attacking at a game-best .255, the Lions were unable to score enough consecutive points to take the two-point advantage necessary to take the set. Trailing 25-24, the Chargers took the next three points on kills from Kali Greathead to force a deciding set.
• After a back-and-forth start to the fifth set, UNH was able to take eight of nine points to put Molloy in a six-point hole, 11-5, that was too deep to climb out of.

Top Performances

• Affrunti set a new career high, tallying 24 kills on a .327 hitting percentage for the maroon and white. The junior added five digs, three aces, two blocks and one assist to her stat line.
• Senior Hailey Wehr joined Affrunti in double digits with 15 kills.
• Senior Sophia Smith reached 50 assists for the second time this season while adding 23 digs and eight kills, just missing a triple-double.
• Senior Jessica Fischetti topped the squad with 24 digs while adding five assists. She was joined in double-digits by sophomore Kathleen Doherty, who set a career-high 20 digs to go with a match-high three aces, and sophomore Nicole Wagner, who added a career-high 16 digs.

Up Next
Molloy will host Holy Family University on Friday (Sept. 20) for a rematch of last year's NCAA East Regional Tournament Quarterfinal at 7:00 p.m. The Tigers of HFU will face both New Haven and #5 Lewis prior to their match with the Lions in the evening.