THE BASICS:

RESULT: UNH 3, Hartford 0
SET 1: UNH 25, Hartford 16
SET 2: UNH 25, Hartford 22
SET 3: UNH 25, Hartford 21
RECORDS: Hartford (0-22, 0-7 America East); UNH (15-7, 7-0 America East)
LOCATION: Hartford Volleyball Gym (West Hartford, Conn.)

THE LEAD: 
Katy Henchy and Paulina Modestow each had 11 kills, but first-place New Hampshire was able to get 13 from Tori Forrest in a 3-0 win on Saturday. Astrid Mangual delivered 26 assists and 13 digs, while Paola Llerandi led all players with 18 digs in a losing effort.

SET ONE:
Hartford came out strong to open the first, jumping out to a 4-2 lead on the strength of kills from Kathryn Gawrych and Paulina Modestow along with a Rachel Moll service ace. The Wildcats battled back, though, and worked their way to an 8-8 tie. UNH then got on a roll, running off seven straight points to push the lead to 15-8. The Hawks staged a late rally to cut the advantage to 24-16, including a pair of kills by Henchy, but the Wildcats took the set.

SET TWO:
Henchy kept her hot hand in the second, posting four kills in the first six points for the Hawks to lead them to a 7-4 lead early on. Hartford was able to push the lead to 10-6 after a UNH service error, but the Wildcats began to rally. Slowly UNH began to chip away, and garnered the lead 14-12 after a Forrest ace. But the Hawks refused to go quietly, rallying to knot the second game up at 20 being sparked by a block from Gawrych and Mangual. But the Wildcats rolled off four in a row to push the lead to 24-20, and held on for a 25-22 victory.

SET THREE:
Early on, it looked like UNH would carry over momentum out of the break, jumping out to a 6-2 lead and forcing a Hawks timeout. But Hartford came roaring back in the third, running off four straight, the last two on back-to-back kills from Henchy and Asha Wafer to make it 6-6. New Hampshire was able to pull back ahead 8-7, but the Hawks staged a rally of their own, posting six straight points, two on service aces by Erinn Lavelle and two on Wafer kills, to make it 13-8. The Wildcats rallied, though, tying the set at 15-all. Hartford again rallied out of a timeout, posting four straight points, the last on a kill by Modestow, to make it 19-15. UNH staged the final blow, though, netting 10 of the final 12 points to take the third 25-21.

UP NEXT: 
The Hawks return to the Hartford Volleyball Gym on Friday, Oct. 30, when they play host to Albany at 7 p.m. Hartford will then take on Binghamton on Sunday, Nov. 1, for the final home conference contest of the season. It will be Senior Day, as the Hawks will honor seniors Lavelle and Gawrych prior to the contest.