BOX SCORE OAKDALE, N.Y. – The University of New Haven women's volleyball team concludes its five-match road trip with a five-set loss at Dowling on Wednesday evening. Three Chargers recorded double-doubles in the loss.
 
Dowling took the marathon match by set scores of 14-25, 18-25, 36-34, 25-22 and 19-17 to improve to 9-5. New Haven now stands at 5-3 overall. The contest consisted of 46 ties and 27 lead changes.
 
Amber Cannady (Yonkers, N.Y./Charles E. Gorton) led all players with a career-high 20 kills and was a force at the net with 12 blocks to round out her third career double-double. Fellow middle Ashley Dalton (Helena, Mont./Capital / Northern Arizona University) also attained a new career best with 15 kills, while Kristy Atufunwa added nine kills off the bench. The trio of middle hitters combined to hit .422 as the Chargers collectively posted a .260 hitting percentage.
 
Kristen Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) posted a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs, while setter Kaulana Ane (Paia, Hawai'i/Kamehameha) distributed 58 assists with 14 digs. Margo Meteyer (Madison, Wis./Madison West) neared a double-double of her own with eight kills and nine digs.
 
Leading the way in the back row was Kea-Marie Olaso (Kailua, Hawai'i/Le Jardin Academy), who registered 31 digs in addition to her three service aces. In addition to Cannady's performance at the net, Ane had a hand in five of the Chargers' 12 team blocks.
 
Five Golden Lions had double-figure kills, led by 19 from Jessica Kalbfleisch. Kayla Dillman handed out 67 assists for the hosts, and Kayla Morgan notched 36 digs.
 
An eight-point run that included two Olaso service aces sent New Haven to a 12-6 lead in set one, and a 5-0 stretch later in the set extended the margin to 19-9 as the Chargers claimed an early lead with a 25-14 first-set triumph.
 
It was a five-point Dowling run that broke open the second set, with the Golden Lions grabbing a 9-6 edge. The cushion held to a 12-9 count before Meteyer landed a pair of aces during a 6-0 spurt that put New Haven on top, 15-12. The lead proved insurmountable as the Chargers pulled away late, winning the final five rallies of the set to take a 25-18 decision and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set was a marathon in itself with 20 ties and 12 lead changes. Dowling led 10-7 in the early stages of the frame and the home team's 15-12 advantage was the last time that either time held a lead larger than two points. The first of 12 set point chances was earned by the Chargers at 24-23, and each team fought off multiple opportunities to end the frame en route to a score of 34-33 in favor of New Haven. The Blue and Gold would not score again, however, as the Golden Lions rattled off three points in a row to stay alive in the match with a 36-34 win.
 
After Dowling evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-22 win in set four, the Chargers took off to a 3-0 edge in the deciding fifth frame. At that point, the Golden Lions went on an 8-3 run to open up a lead as the squads traded sides of the net. Dowling continued to build its lead, earning a match-point chance up 14-12. A Cannady kill and then a block by the senior squashed the consecutive chances to end the contest, and an Ane and Cannady block erased a third to tie the match at 15-15. After Dowling took a 16-15 edge, Lee and Meteyer sent home back-to-back kills to put New Haven on top, 17-16, with a chance to close out the match. However, Dowling went to its big hitter at that point, and Kalbfleisch crushed three-straight kills to give the match to the Golden Lions with a 19-17 win.
 
UNH returns to Charger Gymnasium on Friday, Sept. 27 for a visit from Northeast-10 opponent Assumption. The 7 p.m. match will be broadcast in high definition and free of charge on NewHavenChargers.com.