BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's volleyball team defeated Adelphi, 3-1, on Friday evening to advance to the 2013 Northeast-10 Championship Match. The top-seeded Chargers will meet seventh-seeded Merrimack for the NE-10 crown tomorrow at 5 p.m.
 
With their 13th straight win, which came by set scores of 25-19, 25-27, 27-25 and 25-18, the Chargers improve to 25-4 and advance to the Northeast-10 Championship Match for the fourth time in six seasons as a member of the conference. New Haven is looking to become the first back-to-back NE-10 Champion since Bryant won three straight from 2003-05. Adelphi falls to 19-12 overall.
 
In tonight's match, Margo Meteyer (Madison, Wis./Madison West) posted a team-high 16 kills and completed her fifth double-double of the season with 12 digs. Northeast-10 Player of the Year Amber Cannady added 14 kills and Kristy Atufunwa (Denver, Colo./Denver East) had 11. Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University) notched nine finishers from the middle, and Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) posted eight. Rounding out the offense was Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) with eight kills from the setter spot. Ane, who repeated as NE-10 Setter of the Year this fall, also handed out 48 assists and 14 digs. The Chargers collectively hit .230 (60-20-174) in the four-set contest.
 
Defensively, Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy) had a team-leading 17 digs in addition to her pair of service aces. Lee added 13 digs and Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) picked up 10 off the Chargers' bench. At the net, Cannady had a hand in five of the team's nine blocks, and Dalton and Atufunwa each got a piece of three rejections.
 
Adelphi's Kaitlyn DeStefano led all players with 18 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. As a unit, the Panthers hit .185 (59-28-168) in the match. Katie Bryson doled out 50 assists for the fourth-seeded visitors, and Sierra Crook posted a match-best 25 digs.
 
The first set featured seven early ties – the last of which came at 9-9 before a 3-0 run sparked by tough service from Olaso. The Panthers would only score consecutive points once from that juncture on, as New Haven pulled away for a 25-19 victory.
 
The Chargers held a slim lead for the majority of set two before Adelphi rattled off 12 of the next 18 points to claim a 20-18 advantage. The teams continued to trade points, which each slipping up on its first set-point opportunity, before the Panthers cashed in on a chance and tied the match with a 27-25 win.
 
Adelphi was poised to claim an advantage in the match, leading 18-12 in set three. However, the Chargers promptly responded with a 4-0 run to trim the deficit to 18-16. The visitors rebuilt a four-point cushion at 22-18 and pushed the frame to set point at 24-22. New Haven went to Meteyer to extend the match, as she ran off three straight kills to fight off the set-point chances and give the Chargers a chance to win the stanza. DeStefano slammed home a kill to knot the set at 25-25 before a Meteyer kill and a block by Dalton and Atufunwa completed the comeback and staked the Blue and Gold to a 2-1 edge.
 
Two 5-0 runs in the fourth set pushed New Haven on top, 14-9, and the Chargers would continue to rack up points will stopping Adelphi from putting a run together. The Panthers made one final push with a three-point stretch to cut the margin to 21-17, but UNH won four of the final five rallies to polish off the visitors with a 25-18 triumph.
 
In the evening's second semifinal, Merrimack took a 3-1 decision from sixth-seeded Stonehill to advance to the Northeast-10 Championship Match. The Chargers and Warriors will take the court at Charger Gymnasium tomorrow at 5 p.m. The action will be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge on Northeast10.tv.