WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford volleyball team battled from two sets down to force a fourth set but fell to the Connecticut Huskies 3-1 (25-13, 25-19, 16-25, 25-16) on Tuesday night at the Reich Family Pavilion. The Hawks (3-5 overall) were led by sisters Sareeta Nethersole and Kami Nethersole who finished with 15 and 14 kills respectively.

Junior Lindsay Anderson led the hitters with a .500 hitting percentage, compiling 11 kills in 16 attempts with three miscues. (Sareeta) Nethersole finished second overall with a.324 average on three errors in 37 total attacks. Sophomore setter Jackie Tamburri finished with 47 assists along with three kills.

Defensively, Hartford was led libero Saara Carissimi who finished with a career-high 15 digs. She was one of four players to finish with double digit digs with Tamburri and (Sareeta) Nethersole collecting 13 each and freshman Lindsey Compton adding 12, also a career-high.

The Huskies were led by Devon Maugle who finished with 18 kills and a .368 hitting average with four errors in 38 total attacks. As a team, Connecticut outhit the Hawks with a .297 average on 57 total kills and 13 errors in 148 attacks. Hartford finished with a .254 average on 54 total kills and 18 errors in 142 total attempts. UConn also blocked nine shots, compared to three for Hartford.

UConn opened the match taking the first two sets by scored of 25-23 and 25-19 heading into the intermission. The opening set saw a total of 12 ties and six lead changes. After trading points for nine-straight, the Huskies answered with a three-point rally, the second of which broke a 21-all knot, which gave UConn a 23-22 lead that they wouldn't relinquish. He Hawks forced the score to 24-23 with a kill from (Kami) Nethersole but the Huskies answered with one from Mattison Quayle to close out the game.

Hartford opened up the second set with a service ace from Compton and held that lead until a 16-all tie ended in favor of UConn on a kill from Maugle. The Hawks had as much as a three point advantage on two occasions in that stretch, 6-3 and 14-11. From the point of the 16-all tie the teams would end up knotted on five more occasions and traded leads three times until a late three point run game UConn a 22-18 advantage that the Hawks were unable to battle back from.

After giving up the first two points following the extended break, the Hawks rallied to take a 12-6 lead on a six-point run that included back-to-back service aces from Carissimi. Hartford never looked back from that point, extending its lead to a peak of 19-10 on a kill from (Kami) Nethersole.

The Huskies responded to the third set loss by again taking the first two points, this time never looking back and holding that lead throughout the fourth set. A pair of runs secured the victory for UConn, the first a five-point scamper in the early going and the second a six-point scurry that gave the Huskies a 20-12 lead. Two kills, in the final three serves, from Immanuella Anagu put the match in the books in favor of the visitors.

Hartford returns to tournament play with three matches at the Art Carmichael Invitational hosted by Rhode Island. The three-day event begins with a Thursday night match against the host Rams (7:00 p.m.). The Hawks then face their second Big East opponent in three matches, Seton Hall on Friday at 3:00 p.m. before closing out the event with Canisius at noon on Saturday.