West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford volleyball team dropped its opening match of the University of Hartford New Balance Invitational on Friday night at the Sports Center. The Knights picked up wins in the first two games by 30-28 margins, before Hartford extended the match with a 30-23 victory in game three. FDU closed out the match with a 30-28 victory in the fourth game. Hartford drops to 0-3 on the season, while FDU improves to 2-0.
Three Hawks players finished with double digits for the match, led by sophomore Hallie Fullagar, who finished with a season best for all players of 17 kills. Joining her was Megan Schauffele with 13 and Erin Macro with 10. Freshman setter Lindsay Ford led the team in hitting percentage and assists. Ford finished with five kills and just one assists in nine total attacks, while leading the team with 42 assists. On the defensive end of the floor, Lauren Flores led the team with 19 digs, one of four players in double digits. Fullagar added 11, while Schauffele had 13 to complete double doubles.
In the second game of the night, the Rhode Island Rams took a 3-2 win over Central Connecticut State by scores of 30-22, 19-30, 30-27, 19-30 and 15-11. Central Connecticut was led in the match by Lauren Snyder who had a game best 24 kills, while Caitlyn Welsh led the Rams with 15 kills, one of three players in double figures.
After opening the match with a kill from Schauffele, the Hawks opened up a 6-3 lead. Hartford's largest lead of the match came at 21-14, before the Knights began to eat away at the advantage. A five point rally for the Knights pulled them within two points at 21-19. The rally featured an ace for Rebecca Tenney, two Hawks errors and kills form Tenney and Ali Philbrick.
After trading points for the next six servers, the Knights scored four-straight to take a 26-25 lead. Hartford answered that run by rattling off three-straight to take a 28-26 lead. After siding out the Knights wouldn't give up another point winning on three straight Hawk errors and a kill from Tenney to close out the game. The Hawks were led in the first game by Fullagar, who finished with six kills.
The Hawks began the second game very similar to the first, breaking out to a 4-0 lead on a Schauffele kill, an ace for Fullagar and a pair of Knight errors. The Hawks extended that lead to five, 7-2 before trading points before a three-point run gave the Hawks a six point advantage, 17-11.
The Knights began to eat away at the lead with runs of five and four. The first run pulled FDU within a point of tying the game and the second run allowed them to take a 24-22 lead. The teams would tie the score three times before the Hawks took a 28-26 advantage on an Erin Macro Kill. FDU wasn't going to let it go, forcing the Hawks into three hitting error to take the two-game advantage in the match. Schauffele led the Hawks in the second game with six kills; three other players added two each.
The teams traded side outs for the first eight points before the Hawks opened up an 8-4 on back-to-back kills from Fullagar and back-to-back errors on the Knights. The teams would keep it close until the Hawks began to pull ahead with a four-point run, followed by a string of seven-straight points, put them ahead 28-20. After three straight points for FDU, the Hawks scored the final two points of the match on a Knight error and an ace for Ford. Hartford was led in the third game by Fullagar, who had five kills.
The fourth game started similar to the third with the teams trading side outs for the first six points, before FDU pulled ahead on back-to-back two plays. After FDU pulled ahead by three, the Hawks battled to tie the score six times before FDU pulled ahead by three, 23-20. Hartford battled back to trail by one, but would never regain a lead. The Hawks battled to tie the score at 28 on a kill from Fullagar, but the Knights took the match on a kill from Tenney and a Hawks error.
