PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Hartford volleyball team dropped to 10-6 on the season on Friday night falling to Johnson & Wales University by a 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 28-26, 25-18) final.
Rapid Recap:
- The Hawks jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the first set with kills going to junior Rylee Miller (Sunriver, Ore.) and senior Jordan Murphy (East Hampton, Conn.). The Wildcats would storm back to even the score at 8-8 and eventually holding a 15-14 advantage. Hartford would counter with a thunderous flurry going on a closing 11-2 run highlighted by three kills and two aces by freshman Calla McCombs (Bloomfield, N.Y.).
- The Hawks would jump ahead by a 7-4 lead with a pair of aces going to freshman Aribella Stephens (St. Louis, Mo.). JWU would once again respond jumping in front by a 11-9 score. The lead would stay at 16-13, but the Hawks would punch back again scoring five-straight capped off by a kill for Jo. Murphy. This time it was the Wildcats who would make a comeback, but after an ace from freshman Amara Rhodes (Merced, Calif.) Hartford held on to a narrow 22-21 advantage. JWU would close things out with a 4-1 run to win the second set 25-23.
- The Wildcats jumped ahead 10-5 in the third set before extending it to 16-9. The Hawks would start their comeback with a four-point spurt with a kill going to R. MIller to try and get back into the set. Hartford would continue to chip away eventually going on a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead. Johnson & Wales would later make a quick comeback with a 4-1 closing run to take set three 28-26.
- The fourth set started with both teams going back and forth eventually with the home team getting a 11-9 lead. JWU would add to the lead with a 7-1 run finally stopped by a pair of kills for the Hawks. The Wildcats would hold onto the lead the rest of the way winning by the 25-18 final.
Post Match Press:
"I thought tonight was the most mature match of my tenure at Hartford so far", said head coach
Johan Dulfer. "I was so proud to see our game plan executed perfectly early on and the passion that came along with it was infectious. JWU had to be very clean and very aggressive from the service line to counter us. In the end it came down to a few 'big points' in the second and third sets and those didn't fall our way or the outcome would have undoubtedly been different. I'm so excited to see what tonight's lessons will do for us going forward."
Inside the Numbers:
- McCombs led the Hawks again with 20.0 points with 12 kills, eight aces and nine digs. Sophomore Lauren Johnson (Fort Collins, Colo.) tallied nine kills on a .368 kill percentage. Jo. Murphy added seven kills.
- Rhodes led the passing effort with 30 assists to go with a pair of digs.
- Freshman Arianna Mapa (San Diego, Calif.) and freshman Mckenzie Dearborne (Houston, Texas) each registered eight digs.
- Trinity Ricevuto led the Wildcats with 15 kills, four aces and five digs. Jordan Brinkley added 12 kills.
- The Wildcats would earn a .234 kill percentage compared to .165 for the Hawks.
Up Next:
The Hawks will host Wentworth Insititute of Technology on October 7th at 6:00 PM.
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