WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Kristy Atufunwa (Denver, Colo./Denver East) and Keidy Candelaria (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Bayamon Military Academy) each posted 13 kills to lead the University of New Haven women’s volleyball team to a sweep of crosstown and Northeast-10 rival Southern Connecticut State on Tuesday evening at Charger Gymnasium. The Chargers took the match by set scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-16.
With their seventh-consecutive win, the Chargers improve to 11-1 overall and 4-0 in Northeast-10 Conference play. The Owls’ fourth-straight defeat drops them to 14-5 on the season with a 2-3 conference tally.
Atufunwa hit .476 (13-3-21) to lead New Haven, which swung at a .224 (48-22-116) rate for the match. Candelaria narrowly missed a double-double with 13 kills and nine digs, and Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona) added six kills and sent home two solo blocks. Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) recorded five kills, Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) had three and Hayley Wilson (Denver, Colo./Overland) and Damianis Eusebio (Miramar, Fla./University School) each posted one finisher.
Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawaii/Kamehameha) dished out 39 assists in the sweep in addition to six kills of her own and six digs. Ane entered the week leading the Northeast-10 and ranked 15th in all of Division II with 11.09 assists per frame.
Defensively, libero Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai’i/Le Jardin Academy) led all players with 17 digs, and Lee added 12 from the back row. Atufunwa joined Dalton as the leader at the net with a hand of two of New Haven’s four blocks.
The Chargers landed five aces in the contest – two from Margo Meteyer (Madison, Wisc./Madison West) and one apiece off the serves of Candelaria, Lee and Olaso.
The Owls were led by 11 kills from Sarah Beres. Kimberly Lachowicz distributed 20 assists from the setter spot, and Jade Black led the back row with 12 digs.
A 9-8 deficit in the opening set was the last time the Chargers trailed in the match. A 5-0 run put New Haven on top for good en route to a 25-17 win, and the home team led wire-to-wire in a 25-20 triumph in set two.
In set three, the clubs raced out to a 10-10 deadlock before a 9-0 run on the back of Meteyer’s serve propelled the Chargers to complete the sweep with a 25-16 third-set victory.
New Haven’s three-match homestand concludes on Friday, Oct. 5 with a visit from non-conference foe LIU Post. Northeast-10 play resumed on Saturday, Oct. 6 at Merrimack.
