MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The Marauders were defeated by the New Haven Chargers Friday night 3-0, ending their streak of six consecutive set wins at home. The hosts were plagued by unforced errors throughout the contest, evidenced by a .102 difference in team hitting percentages. 
 
Both teams played sloppily in the set one, but the Chargers grabbed the first significant lead of the match up 6-2. In response, the Marauders took advantage of a few New Haven miscues and back-to-back service aces from Emma Ludwig to claim a three-point edge (15-12). From that point forward, the visitors outscored Millersville 13-7 to take the first set. 
 
The crucial second set began as a back-and-forth affair as both sides seemed to settle down and play more disciplined volleyball. The Marauders claimed a mid-game three-point advantage (15-12) as they had in the first set but again coughed it up due to unforced errors. Filling in for Brian Smith as the head coach for the match, Matt Hamilton decided to use a timeout at 17-17 to stem the tide. He brought Paige Horst in to shore up the defensive side of the net after the stoppage. 
 
"New Haven is very very good at not making errors," Hamilton said of the Chargers. "It's a little bit of their MO. We made a lot of errors late and they didn't."
 
The Marauders took a 21-18 lead shortly after the move, but those late-game errors popped back up once more. They fueled a 7-1 New Haven run to close out the set. 
 
The third set was much of the same as the first two. Millersville had an early lead, but the Chargers took advantage of multiple untimely mistakes throughout the rest of the game to complete the sweep. 
 
Millersville returns to PSAC East action next when it hosts Shepherd on October 27 at 7pm. 

COACH MATT HAMILTON'S THOUGHTS

• On the match: "We competed well. When we talked after the match, we discussed that around 80-85% of the sets that we played, we played well. We just made some errors late (in the match). We knew coming in that New Haven is a good team. They're very very good at not making errors. It's a little bit of their MO. We made a lot of errors late and they didn't. Even so, we battled in some close sets and unfortunately didn't have a great homestretch but played well in the beginning and the middle of it."

COACH BRIAN SMITH'S THOUGHTS

• On the match: "The team struggled with passing and generating offense from our middle hitters while also being too dependent on our outside hitters. We had leads and gave up big runs to end sets.  We must learn how to finish. It's typical for younger teams to stress out when things get tight near the end. All three sets were neck and neck until we got close to the 20-point mark."

• This is just the second meeting between these two teams in program history and the first since 2008. The loss marks the second for Millersville and drops them to 0-2 in the matchup. 
• This is the penultimate non-conference match for Millersville this season. The final bout is scheduled for November 1 when they face Jefferson.
• The Chargers are scheduled to play Kutztown tomorrow, the last of a stretch in which they play three matches in three days. They are also on a nine-match winning streak dating back to September. 

• Taylor Welter continued her stellar play of late tonight, recording 14 kills on a .355 hitting percentage to lead the team. 
• As mentioned in the open, the hitting percentages tell the story of the match. Millersville hit .172 while New Haven recorded a .274. The hosts had 33 total errors while the visitors had 23.