WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford volleyball team posted its second-straight America East victory with a five-set win over the New Hampshire Wildcats on Saturday at the Reich Family Pavilion. Hartford was led by the combination of the Nethersole sisters with older sister Kami Nethersole leading all hitters in the match with 19 kills, a season-high, and younger sister Sareeta Nethersole finishing with 18.

The win for the Hawks broke a 16-year streak in which Hartford had not posted a victory against the Wildcats. In that span, New Hampshire had won 31-straight matches.

The Nethersole sisters were two of three Hartford Hawks to finish in double figures offensively with Taylor McCreery joining in the action with 15 kills. All three finished with more kills than any New Hampshire player. The Wildcats were led by Morgan Thatcher with 13. AS a team, Hartford finished the match with a .180 hitting average with 71 kills and 34 errors in 205 total attacks.

Also hitting well for the Hawks was Lindsay Anderson who contributed nine kills and Kathryn Gawrych who finished with seven. Gawrych finished the night with the Hawks best individual hitting performance closing out the match with a .500 average, not hitting an error in 14 total attacks.

Defensively, Hartford was led by sophomore setter Jackie Tamburri who finished with a career-high 26 digs, while adding a season-best 59 assists for her 12th double double of the season. Tamburri was one of four Hawks to finish with double figures on the defensive end, with Dionna Kirton adding 21 digs, a season-high for the junior from Everett, Wash. Joining Tamburri in finishing with double doubles was both Nethersole sisters as Sareeta added 18 digs and Kami 12. It was the team-leading 13th double double for Sareeta and the eighth for Kami.

Hartford opened the night taking the first two points with a kill from McCreery and an error against the Wildcats. After trading points for the next four, the Wildcats used their first run of the night, a four-point scurry, to take a 6-4 advantage. That lead change was the first and only of the set.

The Hawks were able to tie the score at 10 on three-straight points, two of which come on kills from McCreery and (Kami) Nethersole. New Hampshire responded by taking seven of the next eight points to open up their largest lead in the first set, a 17-11 advantage. The Hawks managed to chip away at the lead, getting as close as one, 19-18, before New Hampshire took five of six from the Hawks, gaining a 24-19 advantage they wouldn't relinquish.

A late run that included kills from (Kami) Nethersole and Gawrych wouldn't be enough as the Wildcats took the early lead in the match.

The second set would teeter back and forth much of the way, with the teams combining for 11 ties and seven lead changes, despite a number of runs from both squads. After trading points through the first nine, the Wildcats provided the first run of the set, four-straight that build a 7-5 advantage in their favor.

Hartford responded with three-straight, which led to an 8-7 advantage on a kill from (Kami) Nethersole and an ace from Lindsay Compton. After the Wildcats took a 10-9 lead on a kill from Victoria Forrest, the Hawks used the largest run of the night, a 10 point scamper that led to a 19-10 advantage, made possible by back-to-back kills from (Sareeta) Nethersole. In total, the Hawks had six kills in the run, three of which came from McCreery.

After trading the next six points, the Wildcats began a run of their own, this one adding up to eight-straight and pulling them within one, 22-21. The Hawks broke that run with a single point on a kill from (Kami) Nethersole and the Wildcats were right back at it with three more points, tying the match at 24. Following a kill from Cassidy Croci, the Hawks rattled off the final three points on kills from Kami and Sareeta and an ace from Tamburri which ended the set and tied the match heading into the long break.

Coming out of the extended break, the Hawks opened the third set with a kill from McCreery and held that lead until a run that included 10-of-2 for the Wildcats, the last part of which was five-straight that gave them a 14-8 lead they wouldn't relinquish. The Hawks made a late run on a kill from (Kami) Nethersole and an error on the Wildcats, but the visitors responded by scoring the final three points of the set and taking the 2-1 advantage.

Hartford would never trail in the final set, which saw just one tie throughout, that coming at 1-1. Hartford opened the set with a kill from McCreery and then after the lone point for the Wildcats, rattled off four-straight to take a 5-1 advantage and never looked back from there.

In the middle of the set, the Hawks put together a pair of small runs that amounted to five of six and a 15-7 lead, which came on back-to-back kills from Gawrych. Hartford managed to open its lead to as much as 21-11 on back-to-back errors on the Wildcats, and put the set in the book on a kill from (Kami) Nethersole.

The fifth set battled back and forth throughout and ended with six ties and four lead changes before the final decision was in the books. Hartford opened the set with a kill from Gawrych and extended that early lead to 2-0 with a kill from (Sareeta) Nethersole.

The Hawks held that lead until a four-point run led to the first tie and lead change, an eventual 6-5 advantage for the Wildcats. The team then traded two-point swings before the home team was able to open a 12-10 advantage on three-of-four from the Wildcats. The three points all came by way of kills, one each from McCreery, Gawrych and (Kami) Nethersole.

The Wildcats took the next two points and was broken up by a kill from (Sareeta) Nethersole which gave the Hawks a 13-12 advantage. With the serve in the hands of Gawrych, the Hawks scored the final two points of the match, the first on a hitting error on New Hampshire's Morgan Thatcher, the final on a slam from (Sareeta) Nethersole.

The Hawks return to the court on Sunday, October 21, when they welcome the reigning America East Champion and undefeated Albany Great Danes. Albany will enter the Reich Family Pavilion with a 6-0 record in league play, including a three-set win over the Hawks in the conference opener on September 23. The Hawks and Great Danes are scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.