Danbury, CT- The women's volleyball team continues their historic start, improving to 9-1 on the season with a 3-0 weekend at Western Connecticut. Hunter defeated the host West Conn on Friday night in a 3-1 match, then on Saturday had an impressive come-from-behind win against Manhattanville, 3-2, and wrapped up the weekend with a 3-0 victory over Morrisville State. The Hawks will host Kean on Thursday, September 21st, at the Sportsplex, with the first serve scheduled for 6 pm, as they look to remain unbeaten at home.
In the first match of the weekend, the Hawks took on Western Connecticut and came out with a 3-to-1 win, taking it 25-20, 18-25, 25-22, and 25-21. There were contributions up and down the lineup in the 4-set win. Tessa Winkleman had 14 kills to lead all Hawks, while Tionna Moss had 11 kills and 2 blocks to contribute on both offense and defense. Izabella Williams had 11 kills and 11 digs on the backline. In the middle, Lily Mattison had a team-high 4 blocks, with Libero Erin Hyman picking up 25 digs, making it hard to find a spot on the floor to put the ball down. Sophomore setter Bethany Tomaneng paced the offense with 31 assists and also chipped in on defense with 12 digs.
The next day, Hunter played Manhattanville at a neutral site in a 5-set thriller, with scores of 15-25, 16-25, 27-25, 27-25, and 15-13. In sets 1 and 2, Hunter got off to a slow start and was never able to gain momentum. However, in set #3, the Hawks jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start. They continued to maintain that lead at 11-5 up until Manhattanville tied it at 15. From that point until the two teams were tied at 25, no one had more than a 2-point lead. Tied at 25, Tessa Winkleman put down one of her 13 kills for a 1-point lead, and after Desiress Morales served, Lily Mattison put the game away with a kill for a 27-25 win. In the 4th set, the largest lead for either team was when Manhattanville had an 11-7 lead. After being tied at 12, it was back and forth until Kayla Treadwell put down a kill from the backline to seal the win and advance to the 5th set. The Hawks took the 5th set and the win with a 15-13 score. The full box score for the Hawks showed Tessa Winkleman leading the team with 13 kills, Bethany Tomaneng with 26 assists, and Erin Dugan leading the Hawks with 20 digs, as the team had a total of 88 digs.
The second match of the day was a 3-0 win over Morrisville State with scores of 25-12, 25-19, 25-19. Izabella Williams had 9 kills to lead the Hawks, and right behind her was Simone McIntyre with 8 kills. Pearl Mensah had 3 service aces, and Kiara Abreu had 14 assists and 3 aces. Erin Dugan once again led the Hawks with 14 digs in the 3-set match. As a team, Hunter had 23 kills, 40 digs, and 4 blocks, along with a season-high 14 service aces.
