New Haven at NYIT
Wednesday, Sept. 18 – 7 p.m.
Old Westbury, N.Y. – Recreation Hall
 
New Haven at Franklin Pierce
Saturday, Sept. 21 – 1 p.m.
Rindge, N.H. – The Fieldhouse
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The University of New Haven women's volleyball team continues its five-match road trip with a Wednesday visit to the New York Institute of Technology and a Saturday match at Franklin Pierce to open the Northeast-10 slate. Both teams joined the Chargers at the NCAA East Region Championship last fall.
 
New Haven most recently took the court on Saturday, taking both ends of a tri-match at East Stroudsburg. The Chargers won a four-set outing against Holy Family and swept the host Warriors to improve to 4-1 on the 2013 season.
 
Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) has paced New Haven thus far with 3.35 kills per set, a .363 hitting percentage and conference-best 1.35 blocks per frame. She is the reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Week following her performance in Saturday's tri-match. Fellow middle blocker Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University) adds 2.35 kills per set while swinging at a .352 clip. Led by Cannady and Dalton, the Chargers top the NE-10 with 2.32 blocks per set.
 
New Haven ran its offense through a pair of setters last weekend, Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) and Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany/Littleton (Colo.)). Ane, who is the reigning Northeast-10 Setter of the Year, made her season debut at East Stroudsburg and distributed 5.14 assists per set. Hacker has played in all 17 sets of her freshman season, doling out 8.35 assists per frame.
 
The back row is helmed by libero Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy), who averages a team-leading 4.71 digs per frame. Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich./Eisenhower) has added 3.18 digs per set in her rookie campaign.
 
NYIT hosts the Chargers with a 2-0 record to its credit following a 22-10 showing in 2012. New Haven won both meetings with the Bears last season, including a five-set thriller in the NCAA East Region Championship Semifinals that saw NYIT erase a 2-0 deficit and then UNH rally back from a 5-1 hole early in the fifth frame to claim the victory.
 
The Bears have logged wins over Nyack and Saint Rose thus far in 2013 behind the arms of Savannah Donarski, Katarina Sretenovic and Shelby Cable, all of whom average at least 3.00 kills per frame. Marija Jovanovic runs the NYIT offense to the tune of 10.38 assists per set, and Sarah Stein has posted 2.50 digs per frame to guide the back row.
 
The top two teams from the Northeast-10 Coaches' Preseason Poll will meet to open the conference slate when the Chargers visit Franklin Pierce. The Ravens are off to a 4-0 start after making their first-ever NCAA postseason appearance last fall with a 19-15 final tally. New Haven took a 3-1 decision in the lone meeting between the two clubs in 2012.
 
Franklin Pierce, which will be opening its home schedule on Saturday, went 3-0 at the Marauder Clash with wins over Holy Family, Chestnut Hill and host Millersville and maintained its unblemished record with a victory at Post last Saturday, Sept. 14. Catie Swiderski and Natasha Ray lead a balanced offense with 2.86 and 2.64 kills per set, respectively. Freshman setter Kelsey Hausman has dished out 8.64 assists per set, and Lauren Miller leads the defensive effort with 4.07 digs per frame.
 
Next week, the Chargers cap their five-match road trip at Dowling – also an NCAA East Region Championship participant last season – before playing their first NE-10 home match against Assumption on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.