PHOTO GALLERY

THE BASICS:

RESULT: UConn 3, Hartford, 0
Set 1: UConn 25, Hartford 12
Set 2: UConn 25, Hartford 19
Set 3: UConn 25, Hartford 23
RECORDS: Hartford (0-1), UConn (1-0)
LOCATION: Hartford Volleyball Gym at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
THE LEAD: In her Hartford debut, Paulina Modestow paced the Hawks with a match-high nine kills while Alyse Wenzel sparked the defense with a match- and career-best three blocks as the University of Hartford dropped its season-opener by a 3-0 count to the visiting UConn Huskies. The match was part of the UConn Tournament, which includes four contests at the Reich Family Pavilion in West Hartford and two in Storrs, Conn., tomorrow. Junior Paola Llerandi added a team-high nine kills for the Hawks, who played the Huskies tough in the final two sets of the afternoon.

SET-BY-SET:

SET ONE:
Freshman Paulina Modestow led the way with three kills while junior Rachel Moll added two as the Hawks fell to the Huskies in their first set of the season by a count of 25-12. Astrid Mangual, a sophomore, paced Hartford with four kills. Thanks to a five-kill effort from Erika Thomas, UConn built upon an 18-9 advantage and held the Hawks to just three points down the final stretch.

SET TWO:
In the second set, UConn came out of the gates early and jumped out to an 8-3 lead. The Hawks managed to trim that deficit down to three on two occasions at 9-6 and 18-15, but the Huskies closed out the set by scoring seven of the final 11 points. Pacing the Hawks offensively was Modestow, who finished with a set-best four kills. Manual again led Hartford with eight assists while rookie Shay Worley's five digs were also a set-high. Four Huskies had three kills apiece as the visiting squad hit .333 overall.

SET THREE:
The final set of the afternoon was a thriller that went back-and-forth between the two squads. Thanks to a pair of UConn errors and four Hartford kills, including three-straight points from Wenzel, the Hawks jumped out to a 6-1 lead early on. But momentum swung, and the lead landed in the hands of the Huskies as they rallied for six-straight points to go up, 9-7. UConn continued its run and pushed ahead, 18-11, on five-straight points from Kenya Cason. The Hawks never let the Huskies pull away, though, as they closed in on their deficit and pulled within a single point at 23-22 on three-straight attacking errors. With the score at 24-23, a Paola Llerandi service error pushed UConn's lead back to two before Hartford again closed the gap to one on a service error by the Huskies. Kenya Cason's kill proved to be the final play of the set, as the Huskies came away with the 25-23 win. Wenzel closed out the set with four kills and a pair of block assists while Mangual tallied a match-best six assists for the Hawks.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

·         Hartford rebounded from  its opening set of the year, a -.038 hitting percentage, and hit .138 and .121 in sets two and three, respectively

·         Offensively, freshman Paulina Modestow recorded nine kills to tie a match-high; she hit .097 while teammate Kathryn Gawrych, a fifth-year student-athlete, paced all Hawks' hitters with a .154 hit percentage

·         Overall, the Hawks posted a hitting percentage of .080, while the Huskies hit .253 on the afternoon

·         In the final set, which was a two-point decision in favor of UConn, the Hawks' defense held the Huskies to a .029 hitting percentage with 10 kills and nine errors in 35 total attempts

·         Hartford finished with six blocks, with junior Alyse Wenzel slamming home a career-high three blocks (assisted)

·         UConn posted match-best numbers in total blocks (9), hitting percentage, assists (38), and digs (42) and was led offensively by Jade Strawberry, who had nine kills

NEWS & NOTES:

·         Friday's home- and season-opener against UConn marked a new era for the Hawks, as it was the first match coached by Mitch Kallick. Kallick comes to Hartford after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at Central Connecticut and brings 12 years of coaching experience to Hartford.

·         With her three blocks, sophomore Alyse Wenzel accumulated three blocks and four kills, both of which were career-highs.

·         UConn improved to 27-3 in the all-time series against Hartford.

UP NEXT:
The Hawks return to action tonight when they host Syracuse at 7 p.m. at the Hartford Volleyball Gym. Hartford will then wrap up action in the UConn Tournament on Saturday when it takes on Rhode Island in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday at 12 p.m.