WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The seventh-seeded Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team made a historic return to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Tuesday during a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-13) quarterfinal loss at No. 2 University of New Haven in the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletic Center.
 
The Purple Knights earned their first postseason appearance since 1995 while recording their highest win total in eight years under first-year head coach Lauren Brough, the first full-time head coach in program annals. The Chargers, who tied for the NE10 regular-season title, were fifth in the latest NCAA East Region rankings.
                                                                  
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (6-13), New Haven (21-9)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Caitlin O'Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 11 kills
• Sophomore Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 7 kills, 4 digs, 2 blocks
• Junior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 26 assists, 6 digs
• First-year Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 10 digs
• Sophomore Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 4 kills, 2 blocks
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 3 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Macy Brown, 11 kills, 8 digs
• Sophomore Kylie Reynolds-Martin, 10 kills, .625 hitting
• First-year Grace Juergens, 9 kills, 8 digs, 3 aces
• Senior Michelle Henwood, 34 assists, 5 digs
• Senior Rilee Jessee, 13 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights made their first NE10 Championship appearance since 1995, which was the last of six consecutive postseason berths. The 2023 squad is the seventh in program history to make the postseason.
• Báez Rentas finished the season with the most assists (619) by a Purple Knight in eight years and the most assists per set (8.72) in 10 years. She dropped 17 aces this season without committing a service error.
• Patterson's 207 kills and 38 aces were the most by a member of her program since 2015 and 2011, respectively.
• Farnan's 321 digs counted for the most by a Saint Michael's player since 2016.
• First-year Grace Almeida's (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) 45 block assists and 55 total blocks were the Purple and Gold's highest figures in eight seasons.

THE ACTION

• The Purple Knights led by one point on four occasions in the opening set, including at 5-4 on Welch's ace, before Henwood had an ace and a kill during a 5-0 response. The Chargers led by as many as four points, but Saint Michael's scored five of the next six points, with Patterson notching a kill and an ace, to force a 12-all knot. After O'Connor again tied the score at 13-13 on a kill, New Haven took the lead on an ensuing error. The Purple and Gold drew within one point four more times, including 18-17 on Patterson's kill, but the Chargers slowly pulled away on the strength of a set-ending 7-3 run.
• Saint Michael's benefited from a pair of Charger service errors en route to a 2-2 tie in set No. 2 before Juergens had two aces and a kill in a 4-0 response. After O'Connor posted a kill for the next point and another O'Connor kill had her team within 8-4, four straight errors allowed New Haven to double its lead. Welch's kill closed the deficit to 15-10, but Reynolds-Martin turned in three kills and a block in a 7-0 run that followed. The visitors never again rallied within single digits.
• New Haven raced to a 4-1 edge in the third set before O'Connor's kill keyed a tying 3-0 run, and the teams were later knotted at 5-5. Henwood notched a kill and an ace during an ensuing 7-0 stretch. The visitors drew within six points three times down the stretch but came no closer.