FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2013
New Haven overcomes 2-0 deficit,
defeats NE-10 rival Adelphi in five sets
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - In a matchup of Northeast-10 Conference rivals Thursday night, fourth-seeded University of New Haven stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat fifth-seeded Adelphi University in five sets in the quarterfinals of the 2013 NCAA Division II Volleyball East Region Championship at the University of Bridgeport's Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium.
With the 3-2 victory, New Haven (27-4) earned its 15th consecutive win and will now move on to face host and top-seeded Bridgeport Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the regional semifinals. Bridgeport earned its spot in the semis with a 3-0 sweep of eighth-seeded Georgian Court earlier Thursday afternoon. The winner will advance to Saturday's 7:00 p.m. championship match.
For Adelphi, its season comes to an end at 19-13.
Earlier Thursday afternoon, fellow Northeast-10 member and seventh-seeded Franklin Pierce University fell to second-seeded LIU Post, 3-0, as the Ravens saw their season come to a close at 14-9.
In other quarterfinal action, third-seeded NYIT defeated sixth-seeded Dowling, 3-0, and will now take on LIU Post Friday at 5:00 p.m. in the other semifinal matchup.
#4 New Haven 3, #5 Adelphi 2 | BOX
Amber Cannady led the New Haven offense with 13 kills in the five-set win. Ashley Dalton added nine on .438 hitting, and Margo Meteyer slammed home eight. Kristen Lee and Meghan Kennelly posted five finishers apiece, and Annika Hacker had one. Damianis Eusebio provided a spark off the bench with one kill and three blocks. Kaulana Ane had six kills in addition to 38 assists from the setter spot. Defensively, Kea-Marie Olaso had a match-high 17 digs.
For Adelphi, three Panthers reached double-digit kills, led by a match-high 17 from Kaitlyn DeStefano, while Mandy Stanislovaitis had 16 and Shelby Stoner added 13. Katie Bryson distributed 54 assists in her collegiate finale, while Haley Blunt and Sierra Crook had 13 digs apiece.
In the first set, Adelphi jumped out to a 10-3 advantage to prompt a New Haven timeout. The Chargers responded with three of the next four points, including an Ane solo block in addition to a kill from the NE-10 Setter of the Year. The contest then settled into a back-and-forth battle, which kept the Panthers in front by a 17-12 count. The Blue and Gold would cut the deficit to 19-16, forcing Adelphi to call a timeout, and continued to storm back to within one point at 20-19. Though the Panthers struck back with the next two points to reopen a 22-19 advantage, the margin was once again cut to one at 22-21 on a Meteyer kill and an Adelphi net error. However, New Haven would not score again in the frame, and the Panthers hung on for a 25-21 win.
Adelphi was again the aggressor in the opening points of set two, as Adelphi won the first four rallies before a Cannady kill put the Chargers on the board. A Meteyer kill followed to trim the early deficit to 4-2, but Adelphi strung together seven of the next 10 exchanges to claim an 11-5 edge. After a timeout, the clubs split the next 22 points as New Haven continued to trail by six, 22-16. The Panthers were the team to break the trend, running off two in a row to reach set point at 24-16. New Haven fought off four straight set points on a Dalton kill, two Adelphi errors and an Olaso service ace, but the Panthers would close out the set, 25-20, to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
A solo block from Cannady started the New Haven scoring in set three after three Adelphi points, and a Panthers' attack error followed by three consecutive Meteyer aces gave the Chargers their first lead of the evening at 5-3. New Haven continued the run out to an 11-6 advantage to induce a timeout and maintained the five-point cushion out to a 16-11 score with a stretch that included kills by Cannady and Meteyer and three Adelphi errors. The Panthers strung back-to-back points together to move to within three at 16-13 before two more Cannady kills and a Kennelly block extended the lead back to five at 19-14. The Chargers held Adelphi at arm's length the rest of the way to keep the match alive with a 25-21 win.
A 6-1 Adelphi run broke a 5-5 deadlock in set four, with the Panthers' 11-6 edge forcing a New Haven timeout. New Haven won six of next seven rallies to knot the frame at 12-12 and vaulted into the lead at 20-16, punctuated with a block by Dalton and Eusebio that prompted Adelphi to take its first timeout of the stanza. The stoppage did not deter the Chargers, who continued to run out to a 23-17 lead. After two consecutive Adelphi points, a Cannady tip for a kill and a Hacker ace ended the set as the Chargers came all the way back to force a deciding fifth frame with a 25-19 victory.
In set five, New Haven took an early lead for the first time on an Adelphi service error and Cannady's 11th kill of the match. The Panthers scored the next pair to knot the set at 2-2, and the stalemate held to a 5-5 count. The Chargers responded with two in a row and took an 8-6 cushion into the midway point of the frame. Adelphi rallied to tie the set again at 9-9 and 11-11 before a Kennelly kill, an Olaso ace and a Panthers' attack error gave New Haven the first match-point opportunity at 14-11. The Panthers fired back with four-straight points to earn a match-point chance of their own, but Hacker won a joust at the net to erase the threat and tie the match for the 18th and final time at 15-15. A Dalton kill and an Adelphi attack error completed the comeback as New Haven took the 3-2 win with a 17-15 set-five triumph.
#2 LIU Post 3, #7 Franklin Pierce 0 | BOX
Senior middle Katie Jackson had five kills without an error and senior libero Lauren Miller averaged seven digs a set in the final collegiate match for each, but it would not be enough Thursday against LIU Post, which piled up 78 digs (26 per set) and seven blocks to hold Franklin Pierce to an .068 hitting percentage in the match.
LIU Post swept the match with scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-18.
Franklin Pierce led the first set at 11-7, before LIU Post ran off seven of the next eight points and 14 of the next 19 to stake itself to a 21-16 lead it would not relinquish. The Ravens then nearly evened things, narrowly falling in a back-and-forth second set. Neither team would ever lead by more than two points in the set, which would be tied at 13-13, 18-18, 20-20 and 23-23. Franklin Pierce led as late as 23-21, before the Pioneers found four straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
From there, LIU Post put away the third set in short order, as the Pioneers took 12 of the first 15 points and led by as many as 12 on the way to finishing the sweep.
For Franklin Pierce, Sydni Schulz and Catie Swiderski each came up with seven kills, while Jackson and freshman Aiden Garcia chalked up five kills each. Senior setter Stephanie Svorinic dished out 20 assists in her collegiate finale. Defensively, Miller led four Ravens in double digits in digs with 21. Schulz added 14, senior outside hitter Natasha Ray chipped in 12 and sophomore defensive specialist Sarah MacHugh mixed in 10.
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
– #NE10 –
- Addition Information Provided by Franklin Pierce, New Haven Athletics Communications -
