Freshman Camryn Luginbuhl tallied a game-high 14 kills and 10 digs to lead the Hartford volleyball team past New Hampshire in a thrilling straight-set victory. The Hawks finish the 2021 season with the win at 7-18 overall and 5-7 in conference play. New Hampshire drops to 16-11 overall and 7-5 in the America East with the loss.
New Hampshire jumped out early in the first set, taking a 7-2 lead. The two sides would trade points back and forth as the Hawks pulled within five after a McKenna Reiswig kill cut New Hampshire’s lead to 14-9. The Wildcats would reestablish a seven-point advantage, leading 19-12, before the Hawks started to mount a comeback. The Hawks soared for a 5-0 run, featuring kills from Reiswig and Maddie Lindsay, cutting New Hampshire’s lead to 19-17. Hartford completed the comeback, knotting the game up at 23 apiece after timely kills from Lughinbuhl and Reiswig. A few points later, the Hawks would finish off the Wildcats as a kill from Lindsay and a UNH attack error secured the Hartford comeback and the set, 27-25.
Hartford carried its momentum into the second set, running out to a 10-5 lead after three kills from Lindsay and two from Reiswig and Luginbuhl. To extend their lead to nine, the Hawks utilized a 6-0 run two points later, capped off by a kill from Greta De Gasper. New Hampshire would try and claw its way back, pulling within four points, but a final kill from Reiswig gave Hartford the 25-20 second set victory.
The Hawks and Wildcats would battle back and forth to start the third set, playing to a 4-4 deadlock. Back-to-back De Gasper service aces would go on to spark an 8-2 run and give the Hawks a 12-6 lead. New Hampshire would not go down easy, forcing the score to 15-13 after capitalizing on Hartford errors. The Hawks would look to finish the game off, though, extending their lead to five after a 6-1 run, capped by kills from De Gasper and Robin Helms, gave the home side a 21-14 lead. The deficit was too much for the Wildcats has Hartford finished the game on a 4-0 run as Kaleigh Fitzgerald, Morgan Galligan and Luginbuhl secured the final three kills, the 25-15 set win, and the match victory for the Hawks.