With the win, the Chargers improved to 25-2 on the year and are off to their best start since the 1996 campaign, a season that ended with a trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The first game of the night featured a thrilling back and forth contest that needed more than the standard 25 points to determine the winner. The Chargers raced out to a 9-3 lead and seemed to have complete control of the match. However, the Skyhawks stormed back after trailing by five or more points for the majority of the set to take a 21-20 lead.
The game moved to 24-24 where the two teams exchanged points until the score was knotted up at 26 apiece. Candelaria, who led the Chargers with six kills in the opening frame, granted UNH a 27-26 lead with a kill from the left side. Freshman Ali Krikau came off the bench to serve and capped off a thrilling 28-26 victory with an ace. UNH recorded 18 kills and eight errors on 54 total attempts for a hitting average of 65 percent in the set.
In the second game, the visiting Skyhawks jumped out to a quick lead at 7-5. However, the advantage was short-lived due to the tremendous play of Candelaria and junior setter Chelsey Alpough. Candelaria ignited the comeback, adding five more kills to her stat line, while Alpough composed the steady attack with 12 assists. New Haven put together a string of seven straight points behind the strong serving of Sara Malmlov, eventually leading to a 25-18 triumph. The Chargers totaled 12 kills and four errors on 29 total attacks for a .730 hitting percentage in the frame.
The third and final game of the night featured a strong outing offensively and defensively for both teams. After a quick start for the home team, the Skyhawks battled back midway through the set to tie the score up at 16-16. The Skyhawks then broke through and grasped 22-20 advantage, but the NE-10’s top team bounced back with a series of kill shots. Malmlov, recently named the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year, tallied back-to-back kills, followed by two more from Liz Akinbiyi. Malmlov put away the Skyhawks on match-point with her fifth kill of the set, advancing the Chargers to the finals with a 25-22 win.
Candelaria led the way with a match-high 14 kills on 38 total attempts and recorded 14 digs. Malmlov also finished with a double-double, collecting 11 kills and a team-high 18 digs. Tymika Duncan and Akinbiyi chimed in with seven kills each on 16 and 22 attempts, respectively. Alpough finished with a match-high 40 helpers and Heather Ladao added 10 digs for New Haven.
The No. 1 seeded Chargers return to action with the finals of the Northeast-10 Tournament tomorrow, November 13 against the winner of No. 2 Pace University and No. 3 Adelphi University. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at Charger Gymnasium.
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