BOX SCORE BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's volleyball team finished its season in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship Match on Saturday with a 3-0 loss to LIU Post. Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) had a team-high 10 kills in her collegiate finale.
 
With the loss, the fourth-seeded Chargers' finish their Northeast-10 Championship season with a record of 28-5. The Pioneers, who were seeded second in the regional, advance to the National Quarterfinals at 25-9 overall.
 
Cannady's 10 kills came on .320 hitting. She was joined on the All-Championship Team by Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy) and Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University). Dalton had six kills in tonight's match and Olaso posted 14 digs.
 
Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower), Kristy Atufunwa (Denver, Colo./Denver East) and Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) also had six kills apiece and Olaso landed one. Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) ran the offense to a .150 hitting percentage while distributing 32 assists.
 
Defensively, Olaso's team-high 14 digs increase her single-season program record to 627. Lee added 12 digs for the Chargers. At the net, Cannady had a hand in two of New Haven's four team blocks. The Chargers also got two aces from Olaso and one apiece from Kennelly and Ane.
 
LIU Post was led by 16 kills on .483 hitting from Makamae Namahoe, who completed a double-double with 10 digs. Lulu Centro distributed 36 assists as the Pioneers hit .259, and Rachel Ringor had a match-high 16 digs as well as four service aces.
 
LIU Post opened the match on an 8-1 run and led by a score of 11-4, before New Haven answered with seven of the next 10 points to cut the deficit to three at 14-11. However, the Pioneers would rattle of a 6-1 stretch to regain a 20-12 advantage. A final push from the Chargers that included two kills apiece from Cannady and Dalton trimmed the margin to 21-17, but LIU Post held on for a 25-19 decision to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
After the Pioneers tallied the first six points of set two, the Blue and Gold rallied with 8-2 stretch to knot the frame at 8-8. The score would deadlock four more times out to a 19-19 count before a Cannady and Atufunwa block stakes New Haven to its first lead of the evening at 20-19. LIU Post went on to win the next three rallies, but a Cannady kill and solo block knotted the frame for the seventh time at 22-22 and a Lee finisher put the Chargers on top, 23-22. After a timeout, the Pioneers scored the ensuing point and the clubs traded rallies to a 25-25 count. LIU Post would come out on top in the set, earning the final two points to take a 27-25 win and earn a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
The Chargers broke a 3-3 stalemate with two Cannady kills and a Lee solo block in set three and kept the Pioneers at arm's length to a 9-7 margin before back-to-back LIU Post finishers tied the set at 9-9 to prompt a New Haven timeout. The next run went to the Pioneers as four consecutive points as part of a 7-2 stretch had them in front, 18-14. LIU Post added one more after a Chargers' timeout and, after a Dalton kill, climbed within four points of victory at 21-15. Atufunwa sent home her sixth kill of the match to end the run, but the Pioneers held on and completed the sweep with a 25-18 win.
 
The Chargers' Northeast-10 Championship in 2013 was their second straight and fourth in six years as a member of the conference. New Haven also won its sixth consecutive NE-10 regular season crown and made its 28th trip to the NCAA postseason.