NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Southern Connecticut volleyball split their home tri-match in Pelz Gym with a 3-0 victory against Queens and a 3-1 loss against Holy Family on Saturday afternoon. The Owls dropped to an overall record of 4-1 while the Tigers improved to an overall record of 4-1 and the Knights dropped to an overall record of 3-5.
MATCH ONE: SCSU VS. QUEENS
In the first match of the day, the Owls picked up a 3-0 victory over the Knights.
Kerrigan Habing recorded a team-best of 11 kills, while
Sarah Stark had 10 kills and
Sydney Bennett added seven. Habing also led the Owls with two service aces.
Elena Bianchi had a team-best of three blocks while Stark had two blocks of her own.
Madi Roar had a team-best of 19 assists as
Kimi Mitchell had 14 and
Victoria Pascual recorded two assists.
Sarah Henault led the Owls with 20 digs while
Dylan Marney and Pascual had six digs against the Knights.
Beginning in the first set, it was close back and forth between the two teams. There were multiple lead changes and comebacks with not one team ever having full control; as momentum was building for the Owls and Knights. Southern won the set, 25-23, due to two kills by Pascual with assists from Mitchell and a service ace by Sartell.
In the second set, the same energy from the first set carried over to the next. Southern worked hard to build their largest lead of the day with a five-point advantage. However, Queens looked to make another series of comebacks. Habing, Bennett, Pascual and Stark all recorded points to keep the lead on their side. The Knights fought back to get within reach of the Owls but Habing had a kill to end the set with a victory scoreline of 25-21.
In the third set, Southern jumped to a quick 5-0 start and from then on, dominated play throughout to take their new largest lead of the day, 22-8 over Queens. The Knights put some more points on the board to cut into the Owls' advantage; nonetheless, Southern held on to earn the 3-0 victory and their fourth straight sweep of the 2025 season.
MATCH TWO: SCSU VS. HOLY FAMILY
Southern Connecticut fell to Holy Family, 3-1 in their second match of the day.
Sydney Bennett recorded a team-best of 14 kills,
Kerrigan Habing had 12 kills and
Elena Bianchi had four kills. Bennett and Bianchi both led the Owls with four blocks while
Sarah Stark added three blocks.
Kimi Mitchell had a career-best of 21 assists as
Madi Roar had 12 and
Sarah Henault had three assists. Henault had a career-best of 21 digs,
Aleciyah Brodley totaled six digs while
Dylan Marney had four. For service aces, Marney recorded a team-best of four as Henault had two and Roar added one ace against the Tigers.
In the first set, the Tigers got out to a 7-2 lead but the Owls worked their way back to takeover the lead, bringing the score to 10-9. Back and forth, Holy Family and Southern trade the lead up until the the last few points of the set.
Dylan Marney came up huge with three service aces in within the last four points, and kills by Bennett and Habing, to take the first set, 25-22 over the Tigers.
In the second set, there were multiple tie scorelines and close lead ranges between the two teams. Both Holy Family and Southern kept fighting for every point; however, the Tigers began to catch up to the Owls. Holy Family came back and won the third set, 25-23, to tie the match at 1-1.
In the third set, the Owls looked to get back into their rhythm with a third set victory. The lead swung quickly, as the Owls would run with the lead then the Tigers would work to regain the lead back. Holy Family kept their momentum going with a 20-15 advantage as Southern did their best to catch up but the Tigers won the thirs set, 25-16.
In the fourth set, Holy Family put points on the board fast as Southern worked to get back in control. The Tigers continued to record the points that they needed as they reached an advantage of 17-9. The Owls fought back with kills from Habing, Bennett and Marney, cutting the lead to 23-18. However, the Tigers finished out the fourth set with a scoreline of 25-18 and a 3-1 victory over the Owls.
Southern will start a five-game road trip on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 6:00 p.m. in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. against non-conference opponent, Mercy at 6:00 p.m.
