FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2013
Courtesy of New Haven Athletics Communications
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The
University of New Haven women's volleyball team finished its season
in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship Match on Saturday
with a 3-0 loss to LIU Post. Amber
Cannady had
a team-high 10 kills in her collegiate finale.
With the loss, the fourth-seeded Chargers' finish their
Northeast-10 Championship season with a record of 28-5. The
Pioneers, who were seeded second in the regional, advance to the
National Quarterfinals at 25-9 overall.
Cannady's 10 kills came on .320 hitting. She was joined on
the All-Championship Team by Kea-Marie
Olaso and Ashley
Dalton. Dalton had six kills in tonight's
match and Olaso posted 14 digs.
Meghan
Kennelly, Kristy
Atufunwa and Kristen
Lee also
had six kills apiece and Olaso landed
one. Kaulana Ane ran
the offense to a .150 hitting percentage while distributing 32
assists.
Defensively, Olaso's team-high 14 digs increase her
single-season program record to 627. Lee added 12 digs for the
Chargers. At the net, Cannady had a hand in two of New Haven's four
team blocks. The Chargers also got two aces from Olaso and one
apiece from Kennelly and Ane.
LIU Post was led by 16 kills on .483 hitting from Makamae
Namahoe, who completed a double-double with 10 digs. Lulu Centro
distributed 36 assists as the Pioneers hit .259, and Rachel Ringor
had a match-high 16 digs as well as four service aces.
LIU Post opened the match on an 8-1 run and led by a score of
11-4, before New Haven answered with seven of the next 10 points to
cut the deficit to three at 14-11. However, the Pioneers would
rattle of a 6-1 stretch to regain a 20-12 advantage. A final push
from the Chargers that included two kills apiece from Cannady and
Dalton trimmed the margin to 21-17, but LIU Post held on for a
25-19 decision to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
After the Pioneers tallied the first six points of set two,
the Blue and Gold rallied with 8-2 stretch to knot the frame at
8-8. The score would deadlock four more times out to a 19-19 count
before a Cannady and Atufunwa block stakes New Haven to its first
lead of the evening at 20-19. LIU Post went on to win the next
three rallies, but a Cannady kill and solo block knotted the frame
for the seventh time at 22-22 and a Lee finisher put the Chargers
on top, 23-22. After a timeout, the Pioneers scored the ensuing
point and the clubs traded rallies to a 25-25 count. LIU Post would
come out on top in the set, earning the final two points to take a
27-25 win and earn a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Chargers broke a 3-3 stalemate with two Cannady kills and
a Lee solo block in set three and kept the Pioneers at arm's length
to a 9-7 margin before back-to-back LIU Post finishers tied the set
at 9-9 to prompt a New Haven timeout. The next run went to the
Pioneers as four consecutive points as part of a 7-2 stretch had
them in front, 18-14. LIU Post added one more after a Chargers'
timeout and, after a Dalton kill, climbed within four points of
victory at 21-15. Atufunwa sent home her sixth kill of the match to
end the run, but the Pioneers held on and completed the sweep with
a 25-18 win.
The Chargers' Northeast-10 Championship in 2013 was their
second straight and fourth in six years as a member of the
conference. New Haven also won its sixth consecutive NE-10 regular
season crown and made its 28th trip to the NCAA
postseason.
