BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven women’s volleyball team knocked off crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State on Friday evening at Charger Gymnasium to advance to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Match. The top-seeded Chargers will host second-seed Adelphi at 5 p.m. tomorrow for the conference crown.

With the semifinal victory, New Haven improves to 26-1 and runs its winning streak to 23 matches – the fifth-longest in program history. The Owls, who were the fourth seed in the championship, fall to 24-11.
 
One day after being announced as the Northeast-10 Player of the Year for the second-straight season, Keidy Candelaria (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Bayamon Military Academy) led all players with 25 kills and completed her 12th double-double with 12 digs. Fellow First Team All-Northeast-10 honoree Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) was also in double figures for New Haven with 12 kills in addition to a match-best five blocks. NE-10 Rookie of the Year Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and Kristy Atufunwa (Denver, Colo./Denver East) each had six finishers, Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University) tallied three and Hayley Wilson (Denver, Colo./Overland) posted one.
 
Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) – the NE-10 Setter of the Year and a Second Team All-Conference pick – dished out 49 assists and had five kills of her own. The Chargers collectively hit .167 (58-29-174) in the four-set win.

Defensively, Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy) had a match-best 25 digs for New Haven, and Bai Zhang (China/Shan Dong Zi Bo No. 10 / China Shan Dong Normal University) chipped in with 17. Ane notched a double-double with 13 digs in addition to her assist total, and Lee matched her with 13 from the back row. At the net, Cannady’s five blocks led a 9.5-block effort for the Chargers. Ane was a part of three New Haven rejections. The Charger defense held Southern Connecticut State to .122 hitting (47-26-172).
 
Lauren McVey had 16 kills to lead the Owls offensively. Kimberly Lachowicz distributed 44 assists, and Vanessa Sullivan recorded 23 digs.
 
The Owls got out to a 3-0 start in set one before a Charger rally to knot the score at 5-5. The margin stayed within two points over the next stretch until SCSU notched three in a row to open up a 16-13 advantage.  New Haven fired back again to tie the set at 18-18 and then took its first lead of the evening at 19-18. The score would be tied three more times before kills by Candelaria and Atufunwa gave the Chargers their first set-point chance. The persistent Owls fought off three set-point opportunities before a Lee finisher capped off the 27-25 win.
 
In set two, SCSU broke 6-6 tie with a McVey kill and kept the Chargers at bay for the remainder of the set. Though nine of Candelaria’s kills came in the second frame, New Haven dropped a 25-20 decision to knot the match at 1-1.
 
The Chargers got off to another slow start in set three, falling behind 3-0. But a pair of Candelaria aces pushed the home team into the lead. New Haven only went on one run longer than two points for the remainder of the set, but the defense stopped SCSU from making an extended push as the lead steadily grew as large as seven points in an eventual 25-20 victory.
 
New Haven jumped out early in the fourth frame, rattling off an early 7-1 run to take an 8-4 lead and never looking back. Again the Chargers slowly built a cushion without the benefit on another long spurt, closing out the match with a 25-19 decision.
 
The Chargers will meet second-seed Adelphi in tomorrow’s 5 p.m. Northeast-10 Championship Match. The Panthers downed Pace, 3-1, in Friday’s second semifinal contest. For links to tomorrow’s live video feed and more, visit the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Volleyball Championship Portal on NewHavenChargers.com.