On Sept. 25, the women’s volleyball team traveled to New Hampshire to face off against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.
It was their first America East Conference game of the season and the Hawks were still looking for that first win under head coach Mitch Kallick.
It seemed that the Hawks could not find any traction whatsoever in this game as they lost in three straight sets.
New Hampshire started out the first set with a 5-2 lead, at which point setter Astrid Mangual went down with an injury. This would prove to be detrimental for the hawks as Mangual was the primary source of the teams’ assists.
However the Hawks did not let the injury deter them from the game as they battled back to 5-4 then traded points with the Wildcats to 8-7. This was the closest the Hawks would get to a lead in this set, though, as the Wildcats were able to overtake the Hawks and end the set at 25-12.
The second set began similar to the first one as the Hawks were trailing right behind the Wildcats at 5-4.
The Hawks were able to answer every point the Wildcats put up until the score got to 9-7. At this point the Hawks lost all traction and let up nine points to blow the game open at 18-8. The Hawks weren’t able to do much more as the Wildcats held their grip on the set.
The set ended once again at 25-12.
Enjoying some time in Portsmouth, NH before pre-game! #hartfordvsunh #ae #pregamefun pic.twitter.com/7FT7Kg33iJ
— Hartford Hawks VB (@HartfordVball) September 25, 2015
UNH came out looking to put the final nail in the coffin opening the third set with a strong 14-3 lead.
That was all it seemed to take for the Wildcats to close out the game as they ended the third set at 25-7, hitting .214 in the set.
The Hawks continue their conference games next week with two road games.
On Friday, Oct. 3, the Hawks will travel to Binghamton to take on the Bearcats at 7 p.m. followed by a game on Sunday afternoon to take on the University of Albany Great Danes at 2 p.m.
Hopefully, sophomore Mangual will be able to rejoin her team and her injuries are not severe. She is a very big asset to the team and losing her for a long time is the last thing they need.
They are fighting valiantly and show heart in every game they play, but always seem to come up short.
Hopefully that is not the case in their next game coming up.