WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – A program transitioning to Division III but playing primarily a Division I and Division II schedule and mostly away from home, the University of Hartford won for the second time in 19 matches with a four-game non-conference verdict over Eastern Connecticut State University Thursday night at Chase Arena.
Having lost its first 15 matches – 13 of them in straight sets and all of them on the road – Hartford (2-17) won for the second time in its last four matches with a 25-19, 17-25, 25-9, 27-25 victory over Eastern (13-5). The Hawks ended a run of nine straight set victories for the Warriors by scoring seven of eight points to snap an 18-all tie with the first-set win.
It was the first meeting between the program in 36 years, when Eastern won 13 of 19 meetings against the then-Division II Hawks when matches were best-of-three and games were played to 15 points.
Eastern had evened the match Thursday night by racing to a 15-4 lead and holding on for an eight-point victory in the second set before the Hawks led from start to finish in their 16-point win in the third set. Facing elimination, the Warriors rallied into a 17-16 lead in the fourth set but gave up six straight points and faced match point before tying the score, 24-24, on a pair of kills from senior
Nayeli Cruz Martinez (Toa Baja, P.R.) and taking a 25-24 lead on a kill from sophomore
Bella Johnson (Marlborough). Serving for set point, Eastern couldn't put the set away. Hartford tied the score with a kill from 5-foot-10 inch setter Lika Nkenchor, went ahead on an Eastern attack error and ended the match on a service ace from Nkenchor for the two-point win.
With seven freshmen on a 12-person roster as the team transitions to the Division III Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) in the near future, the Hawks featured six players standing at least 5-foot-10, with two of them taller than six-feet.
Six-foot-one inch senior All-America
Anna Barry (Andover) led Eastern with 18 kills and a .353 attack percentage but the rest of the team managed only 31 kills with a .082 attack percentage. Junior
Paige Savitsky (Centereach, NY) and Johnson each had nine kills but attacked at only .097 and Cruz Martinez added eight kills. Senior libera
Paula Perez (Caguas, P.R.) dug up 25 balls, first-year player
Jenna Loring (Richmond, RI) 12 and Savitsky ten. Senior setter
Meg Verizzi (Lebanon) had 41 assists.
Greta De Gasper, who prolonged the fourth set with a kill that tied it up at 25-all, led the Hawks with 20 kills to go along with 17 digs, Isabella LaBrada adding 13 kills. Nkenchor had 25 assists and Kylee Connally 20 and Lindzi Thomas had a team-high 20 digs.
Eastern faces Western New England University at 1 p.m. and Wheaton College at 3 p.m. Saturday in a non-conference tri-match at Wheaton.
