BOX SCORE BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's volleyball team erased a 2-0 deficit to top Adelphi, 3-2, in an NCAA Division II East Region Quarterfinal on Thursday at Bridgeport's Hubbell Gymnasium. The Chargers advance to meet the top-seeded Purple Knights in tomorrow's semifinal round.
 
With their 15th consecutive win, the fourth-seeded Chargers improve to 27-4. Fifth-seeded Adelphi ends its campaign with a 19-13 record.
 
Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) led the offense with 13 kills in the five-set win. Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University) added nine on .438 hitting, and Margo Meteyer (Madison, Wis./Madison West) slammed home eight. Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and #Meghan Kennelly posted five finishers apiece, and Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)) had one. Damianis Eusebio (Miramar, Fla./University School) provided a spark off the bench with one kill and three blocks. Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) had six kills in addition to 38 assists from the setter spot, running the offense to a .153 clip.
 
Defensively, Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy) had a match-high 17 digs, with 12 coming from Hacker and Kennelly registering 10 from the back row. At the net, Cannady, Dalton and Eusebio each had a hand in three of the club's eight blocks.
 
The Chargers scored eight points from the serving game, including three Meteyer Aces and two winners apiece by Olaso and Hacker.
 
Adelphi got a match-best 17 kills from Kaitlyn DeStefano, who also got a piece of six blocks. Katie Bryson distributed 54 assists in her collegiate finale. Adelphi hit a collective .189 in the match.
 
In the first set, Adelphi jumped out to a 10-3 advantage to prompt a New Haven timeout. The Chargers responded with three of the next four points, including an Ane solo block in addition to a kill from the NE-10 Setter of the Year. The contest then settled into a back-and-forth battle, which kept the Panthers in front by a 17-12 count. The Blue and Gold would cut the deficit to 19-16, forcing Adelphi to call a timeout, and continued to storm back to within one point at 20-19. Though the Panthers struck back with the next two points to reopen a 22-19 advantage, the margin was one again cut to one at 22-21 on a Meteyer kill and an Adelphi net error. However, New Haven would not score again in the frame, and the Panthers hung on for a 25-21 win.
 
Adelphi was again the aggressor in the opening points of set two; the fifth-seeded club won the first four rallies before a Cannady kill put the Chargers on the board. A Meteyer kill followed to trim the early deficit to 4-2, but Adelphi strung together seven of the next 10 exchanges to claim an 11-5 edge. After a timeout, the clubs split the next 22 points as New Haven continued to trail by six, 22-16. The Panthers were the team to break the trend, running off two in a row to reach set point at 24-16. New Haven fought off four straight set points on a Dalton kill, two Adelphi errors and an Olaso service ace, but the Panthers would close out the set, 25-20, to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
A solo block from Cannady started the New Haven scoring in set three after three Adelphi points, and a Panthers' attack error followed by three consecutive Meteyer aces gave the Chargers their first lead of the evening at 5-3. New Haven continued the run out to an 11-6 advantage to induce a timeout and maintained the five-point cushion out to a 16-11 score with a stretch that included kills by Cannady and Meteyer and three Adelphi errors. The Panthers strung back-to-back points together to move to within three at 16-13 before two more Cannady kills and a Kennelly block extended the lead back to five at 19-14. The Chargers held Adelphi at arm's length the rest of the way to keep the match alive with a 25-21 win.
 
A 6-1 Adelphi run broke a 5-5 deadlock in set four, with the Panthers' 11-6 edge forcing a New Haven timeout. New Haven won six of next seven rallies to knot the frame at 12-12 and vaulted into the lead at 20-16, punctuated with a block by Dalton and Eusebio that prompted Adelphi to take its first timeout of the stanza. The stoppage did not deter the Chargers, who continued to run out to a 23-17 lead. After two consecutive Adelphi points, a Cannady tip for a kill and a Hacker ace ended the set as the Chargers came all the way back to  force a deciding fifth frame with a 25-19 victory.
 
In set five, New Haven took an early lead for the first time on an Adelphi service error and Cannady's 11th kill of the match. The Panthers scored the next pair to knot the set at 2-2, and the stalemate held to a 5-5 count. The Chargers responded with two in a row and took an 8-6 cushion into the midway point of the frame. Adelphi rallied to tie the set again at 9-9 and 11-11 before a Kennelly kill, an Olaso ace and a Panthers' attack error gave New Haven the first match-point opportunity at 14-11. The Panthers fired back with four-straight points to earn a match-point chance of their own, but Hacker won a joust at the net to erase the threat and tie the match for the 18th and final time at 15-15. A Dalton kill and an Adelphi attack error completed the comeback as New Haven took the 3-2 win with a 17-15 set-five triumph.
 
In a rematch of last season's Championship Match, the Chargers and Purple Knights will take the court for semifinal action at 7:30 p.m. The 5 p.m. semifinal will feature second-seeded LIU Post and third-seeded NYIT.