New York, NY - The Hunter College Women's Volleyball team traveled to New Jersey City to open the 2023 season. The Hawks took on Alvernia and NJCU in the tri-match and walked away with two four-set wins, starting the young season 2-0.

In game 1 against Alvernia, the Hawks played strong defense while maintaining their offensive attack. Hunter had a 46-28 advantage in kills and a 67-49 advantage in digs. Leading the attack was sophomore Izabella Williams, who recorded 12 kills on 27 swings. Senior Pearl Mensah had 9 kills in the middle, while her fellow middle, sophomore Lily Mattison, led Hunter with 3 service aces.

Sophomore setter Bethany Tomaneng paced the offense with 40 assists on the 46 kills. The Hawks hit 188 as a team, had 7 aces, and blocked 6 shots. Hunter took the first set, dropped a tight second set, but ultimately secured the win by taking sets 3 and 4.

In game 2, Hunter faced host NJCU, where the Hawks used the same formula of stellar defense and offensive attacks. Hunter had a 46-32 advantage in kills and a 67-64 advantage in digs. Sophomore Izabella Williams continued her hot streak with 13 kills, totaling 25 kills on the day. Lily Mattison also tallied double-digit kills with 10, and again led Hunter with 4 aces. Sophomore libero Erin Hyman led the Hawks with 14 digs, and senior setter Kiara Abreu had 37 assists on the 46 kills.

Hunter secured 2 non-conference wins and will travel to Rutgers-Camden on Tuesday night for a 7pm first serve.