WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's volleyball team began Northeast-10 Championship action with a sweep of visiting American International on Tuesday at Charger Gymnasium. Margo Meteyer (Madison, Wis./Madison West) and Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) led the way offensively with 14 kills apiece.
 
With the win, New Haven improves to 24-4 and increases its winning streak to 12 matches. The Chargers took the match by set scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-23. The Yellow Jackets' season ends with a 14-16 record.
 
UNH will host the entirety of the Northeast-10 Championship "final four" this weekend at Charger Gymnasium. The top-seeded Chargers will host fourth-seeded Adelphi on Friday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m., and the second semifinal featuring seventh-seeded Merrimack and sixth-seeded Stonehill is set for 7:30 p.m. Regardless of the winners on Friday, the NE-10 Championship Match will be played at Charger Gymnasium on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 5 p.m.
 
As a unit, the Chargers hit .429 with 50 kills and just eight errors on 98 swings against the Yellow Jackets. Cannady, who earlier in the day was named the Northeast-10 Player of the Week for the second consecutive week, hit .667 on 21 errorless attempts to reach her 14 kills, while Meteyer posted a .393 (14-3-28) hitting percentage.
 
Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University) added seven kills, and Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) had six on 12 swings without an error. Kristy Atufunwa (Denver, Colo./Denver East) notched five finishers, Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) had three from the setter spot and Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) posted on kill. Ane ran the offense to the tune of 41 assists.
 
Defensively, Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy) had a team-leading 16 digs, and Meteyer chipped in with six from the back row. At the net, Dalton had a hand in five of the Chargers' seven team blocks.
 
In set one, the Chargers broke an early 3-3 tie with a 9-0 run that featured three Cannady kills and two by Meteyer. New Haven kept the Yellow Jackets at arm's length the rest of the way and back-to-back kills from Meteyer and Atufunwa finished off a 25-16 decision.
 
American International led to an 11-9 count in the second set before the Chargers strung together three straight to take a 12-11 advantage. The visitors earned the next point to knot the match at 12-12, but New Haven rattled off three straight kills delivered by Kennelly, Meteyer and Cannady to grab lead that it would not relinquish. A late 6-0 run brought the contest to set point, and an attack error finished off the 25-17 win for the Chargers.
 
Set three was a back-and-forth affair with 17 ties and six lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points en route to a 23-23 stalemate. At that point, Dalton sent home a kill and a block from Dalton and Kennelly sealed the sweep with a 25-23 win.
 
Bailey Swan led American International with 13 kills. Hannah Smith had 32 assists for the Yellow Jackets, and Caitlin Connelly matched Olaso with 16 digs.
 
This weekend, the Chargers will be vying for their second-straight Northeast-10 Championship and their fourth overall in six seasons as a member of the conference. Updates throughout the week and links to follow all of the action will be available on NewHavenChargers.com.