New York, NY - Hunter College women's volleyball dropped two matches on Saturday in the NYU Invitational, falling to Emerson College and Rivier University.
The Purple and Gold have started the season 1-3, earning their first win of the season on Friday against Keene State.
Emerson 3, Hunter 0
The Hawks started the day with a match against Emerson College, eventually falling to the undefeated team in three sets with scores of 25-23, 25-16 and 25-18.
The Lions dominated early in the first set of the match, taking a 16-4 lead. From there the Hawks began to chip away at Emerson's edge, first scoring six-straight points to trail by just six and then going on an 8-1 run with help from kills from
Julia Connolly,
Taylor Kerr-Haiduk and
Miranda Hogan to tie the set.
Despite the comeback, the Hawks fell by just two points to give Emerson the first set of the match.
The Lions took control early on again in the second, jumping out to a 12-3 lead over the Hawks. Two service aces from Hogan and a kill from
Samantha Barrett would propel the Purple and Gold back in the match, helping them trail by just three points, but the Lions managed to score the last six points of the set to take it, 25-16 and lead the match, 2-0.
Hunter struck first in the third set, led by Connolly's three-straight kills, as the Hawks led early with a score of 9-8.
Emerson quickly regained composure, going on a 11-1 run and taking the third 25-18 to get the 3-0 victory.
Connolly led with 16 kills in the match, while Hogan led the team defensively with 12 kills. Kerr-Haiduk recorded nine kills and 11 digs and libero
Haley Trunkett also tallied 11 digs.
Rivier 3, Hunter 1
The Purple and Gold's second match of the day ended in a four-set loss to Rivier, featuring scores of 25-15, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-18.
The Hawks took a 8-7 lead in the first set but the Raiders caught up by scoring nine-straight points. Rivier's run was broken by kills from Kerr-Haiduk and Connolly as the Hawks trailed by six points, but the lead was too deep to make up for Hunter as Rivier took the first set 25-15.
An early Hunter lead was once again erased as the Raiders went on an 8-3 to make the score 15-9. Kerr-Haiduk attempted to take control of the match by recording three-straight kills and a service ace in the remaining points of the set but Rivier did not let up, taking the second with a score of 25-17 for a 2-0 lead.
Things did not look good for the Hawks in the third set as Rivier led early with a score of 10-7, but Hunter capitalized on several Raider errors to go on a 7-1 run and take a three-point lead. The set remained close but the Purple and Gold managed to score the last three points to take the third, 25-19 and force a fourth set.
Hunter's momentum rolled over to the fourth as they immediately led the Raiders, 17-13, but Rivier started their comeback as they scored five-straight points and then closed out the set with seven-straight to win 25-18 and take the match, 3-1.
Connolly and Kerr-Haiduk each notched 15 kills, while Trunkett led the team on defense with 19 digs.
Kerr-Haiduk earned a spot on the All-Tournament team for her efforts over the weekend.
The Hawks return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 6 when they travel to conference-foe Medgar Evers for a 7 p.m. match.
