Hamden, CT - The University of Hartford volleyball team won its first match of the season, 3-0 over the Quinnipiac University Bobcats on Tuesday evening. The Hawks won the match by scores of 30-20, 31-29 and 30-21. Hartford is now 1-5 overall, while the Bobcats are now 0-5.
The Hawks were led in the match by sophomore Erin Macro who finished with a match-high 10 kills. She was followed by freshman Megan Schauffele who had seven kills. Freshman Lindsay Ford was the Hawks starting setter and assumed the role in all three games, finishing with a match-high of 17 assists. Erica Paulson also saw time in the setting role, finishing the match with 10 assists.
The Hawks had nine total players finish with at least one kill in the match, while eight players all finished with at least one service ace. As a team, Hartford finished with a season best of 13 aces. Defensively, the Hawks were led by senior Lauren Flores who finished with 13 digs, the only player in the match to record double digit digs.
Hartford jumped out to an early 11-5 lead in the first game. In the early going, the Hawks saw three service aces and kills from Hallie Fullagar and Katie O'Hara. After allowing the Bobcats to score three-straight points, the Hawks managed to keep their lead at four until breaking out with a five-point run to take a 27-15 lead. The Bobcats would go on to score five of the final six points of the game, but Hartford would go on to take the early lead in the match. For the first game, five different players finished with two kills to lead the team.
The second game featured a total of 15 ties and nine lead changes before Hartford secured the victory with back-to-back kills. The Hawks opened the game scoring the first three points, but the Bobcats battled back to tie the score for the first time at seven on a Jenna Benigno kill. Quinnipiac took its first lead of the game at 10-9 on a Benigno kill. The teams would trade leads for the remainder of the match until Hartford scored five of the final eight points, including back-to-back kills to end the game. Macro led the Hawks in the third game with five kills and posting a .375 hitting percentage.
The Hawks took control of the final game from the start, taking an early 4-0 lead on back-to-back aces from Ford and a Macro kill. Back-to-Back aces from Bettina Woodman helped the Hawks extend its lead to 11-4. The Bobcats would make a late run cutting the Hawks nine-point lead down to five, before Hartford used kills from Maddison Molyneux and Schauffele to secure the victory. Mollyneux and Macro combined to lead the Hawks, each with three kills. Molyneux finished the game with a .750 attack percentage (three kills, no errors in four attempts).
The Hawks will next play in the Holy Cross Invitational over Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8. The Hawks will open play in the tournament on Friday at 5:00 p.m. against Loyola and then take on Coppin State and the host Crusaders on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. respectively.
