DUDLEY, Mass. - The Hartford women's volleyball team faced off against Nichols College Wednesday evening on the road to kick off Conference of New England (CNE) play. The team fell in three straight sets to the Bison and now set their season record as 3-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play

Rapid Recap:

• The Bison found their stride early in this match-up with an opening drive for six straight points over the Hawks. The Hawks were able to force attacking errors against Nichols in order to get some points on the board. Junior Jenna Murphy (East Hampton, Conn.) broke their momentum slamming down a quick kill over the net. This play fired up the Hawks as junior Kalle Legassey (Prospect, Conn.) received a perfectly placed set from freshman Mattea Cosby (Enfield, Conn.) and knocked one onto the Bison's court to force them to take a time out with a score of 12-8, Hawks trailing by four. The Hawks continued to fight as they moved through this opening set, but were unable to catch the Bison's tails as they took the first set 25-19.
• The Hawks came out with power in this second set, junior Jordan Murphy (East Hampton, Conn.) opened the scoring with a quick kill. Both teams struggled at the service line this evening trading errors for early points in this set. The Bison created some distance with effortless sequences to catch the Hawks off guard, now 13-4. As we moved through the second set the Hawks continued to run into errors and were unable to put together strong pieces. The Bison ran with their lead and took the second set, 25-13.
• The Hawks had their best moments in this final set, they opened strong with big plays being made by Legassey, Jo. Murphy, and Cosby to bring the score even at 7-7. Legassey received a nice set from Cosby to drill the ball into an open space to push their lead to 12-7. The Bison used their lessons learned from their first two sets and cleaned up their performance from the service line, picking up three swift aces to take back control of this game, 17-14 Bison. The Hawks fought until the end with key plays by Je. Murphy and Cosby tried to try and clinch this final set but fell short as the Bison took the final set 25-20.

Inside the Numbers:

• Jo. Murphy led the Hawks offensively putting away nine kills and one assist. She also defended the court well with 15 digs, tying her all-time career-high against the Bison totalling 10 points this evening .
• Legassey also had a strong showing with 14 digs, three kills, and one service ace.
• Junior Emilie Hatje (Middlefield, Conn.) dove for 17 digs in this match-up.
• Kya Burdier for the Bison claimed 11.5 points tonight with 11 kills, one assist, and one dig.

Up Next:
The Hawks will stay on the road to take on the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors this Saturday, September 27th at 2:00 p.m.