PUEBLO, Colo. – After opening the weekend with three consecutive victories, the University of New Haven women’s volleyball team fell to Montana State-Billings in the Chargers’ finale at the ThunderWolves Classic hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo.
The Chargers leave the Rocky Mountain State with a record of 3-1, while MSU Billings improves to 2-5.
The Yellowjackets took the match by set scores of 28-26, 25-17 and 25-17.
Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) led New Haven with eight kills. The junior also got a piece of three of the Chargers’ four blocks. Keidy Candelaria (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Bayamon Military Academy) added seven kills to go along with a team-high 10 digs, and Kristy Atufunwa (Denver, Colo./Denver East) sent home six finishers.
Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawaii/Kamehameha) doled out 22 assists from the setter position. The Charger offense hit .077 (27-18-117) in the match.
Montana State-Billings was led by Monica Grimsrud, who compiled a match-high 17 kills. Kyndal Williams distributed 43 assists for the Yellowjackets and Erin Compton had 17 digs. Montana State-Billings hit .322 (54-17-115) on the day.
The first set was the closest, as New Haven built up an early four-point lead that held to a score of 16-12. The Yellowjackets would fight back to tie the score at 20-20. The Chargers battled to reach set point, leading 24-22, but Montana State-Billings responded with three-consecutive tallies to earn a set-point opportunity of the own at 25-24. An Atufunwa kill extended the match, but another set point was again fought off by the Yellowjackets, who reeled off the last three points to take a 28-26 decision.
Montana State-Billings carried their momentum into the second set, winning the first five rallies and never looking back en route to a 25-17 lead.
Down 2-0, New Haven would not go quietly. The third set consisted of five ties and a pair of lead changes, but a five-point surge by the Yellowjackets broke a 13-13 tie and gave them an advantage that they would not relinquish en route to a 25-17 win.
New Haven opens its home schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 12 against the New York Institute of Technology at 7 p.m. The action from Charger Gymnasium will be broadcast live in high definition and available on most mobile devices on NewHavenChargers.com.
