WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University's chance to take over first place in the Northeast-10 Conference and the team's five-game winning streak both went by the boards as the Falcons were swept by streaking University of New Haven in women's college volleyball action at the Dana Center Thursday evening. All three sets were decided by identical 25-21 scores.

The visiting Chargers strengthened their hold on first, improving to 12-7 overall and 7-0 NE10 after claiming their eighth straight win. Bentley dropped to 14-6 overall and 6-2 conference after suffering only its second loss in its last 11 matches.

Bentley had no answer for New Haven senior six-footer Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) with the lefty hitting a sparkling .488 with 22 kills and only two errors. After registering five kills in the opening set and eight in the second, she was unstoppable in the third, hitting .818 with nine kills in 11 attacks.

Bentley was led by sophomore Dani Milner (Plano, Texas/The Greenhill School), who posted her 12th double-double of the season, most by a Falcon in a decade. She totaled 12 kills, 11 digs and a block.

The Falcons also received a 35-assist, 10-dig double-double from sophomore Xio Lopp (Kalispell, Mont./Flathead HS), 15 digs from senior libero Celia Cristofoli (Fort Collins, Colo./Hudson (Ohio) HS), and nine kills from freshman Kirsten Segaline (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS).

Bentley held the lead midway through the first and third sets before the Chargers weren't able to pull out the set victories. In the first, the Falcons were up 15-11, and in the third, the final home team advantage came at 11-10. Late in both, Bentley still had a shot, trailing 22-21 in the first and 23-21 in the finale.

New Haven hit nearly twice as high as the Falcons, .287 as compared to .147, and also finished with 12 more digs (63-51) and five more blocks (9-4).

Bentley will play its next three on the road, beginning Tuesday at Bridgeport.