University of Hartford Hawks Announce 2012 Volleyball Schedule
2012 Hartford Volleyball Schedule
West Hartford, CT – University of Hartford women’s volleyball coach Alex Temkin has announced the release of the Hawks 2012 schedule, his inaugural season with the Hartford volleyball program. The 2012 schedule features 28 total matches, including a 12 match America East Conference slate.
The Hawks will play in a total of four tournaments, opening the season at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational hosted by Navy, the second straight year the Hawks have opened a schedule at a three-team tournament. The 2012 season will commence on Friday, August 24 as the Hawks take on the host Midshipmen before taking on Nebraska-Omaha and Norfolk State on Saturday, August 25.
The home opener in West Hartford will break up the Hawks first two weekend tournaments as they welcome in-state rival Central Connecticut to the Reich Family Pavilion. Hartford and Central will meet for the 53rd time in the Division I history of Hartford volleyball, having met at least once in each of the 27 years. The Hawks hold a 31-21 advantage in the all-time series, but dropped last year’s meeting in five sets in New Britain. The Hawks and Blue Devils will square off on Wednesday, August 29.
The Hawks then open a busy month of September with three matches at the Marist Tournament, beginning with Fordham and the host Red Foxes on day one, Saturday, September 1. A Sunday morning match against the NJIT Highlanders will conclude the two-day event.
A home date against the Connecticut Huskies will provide another brief hiatus between tournaments when the Hawks welcome UConn to West Hartford on Tuesday, September 4. Following their second home match of the season, Hartford will travel to Rhode Island for the Art Carmichael Invitational hosted by the Rams. The Hawks will first play Rhode Island on Thursday, September 6. Dates with Seton Hall (Friday, September 7) and Canisius (Saturday, September 8) wrap up the three-day event.
Another one-match break will have the Hawks traveling east on Interstate 84 for a date with the Holy Cross Crusaders in Worcester, Mass. Hartford and Holy Cross will meet on Tuesday, September 11. The final tournament of the season will have the Hawks traveling to Buffalo for the Blue and White Classic. The Hawks open with a Friday afternoon (September 14) match against the Syracuse Orange. A pair of matches await on day two, the first against the host, a first time meeting against Buffalo. The final match of the weekend will come against Dartmouth.
Hartford will return to campus for their final tune-up before opening the 12-match conference schedule, welcoming the Bryant Bulldogs to the Hartford Volleyball Arena on Tuesday, September 18. The Hawks and Bulldogs met twice in 2011, with Hartford winning both matches despite being forced to five sets in each.
The first two league matches will come on the road as the Hawks swing through New York for matches against the reigning America East champion Albany Great Danes (Sunday, September 23) and the runner-up Stony Brook Seawolves (Friday, September 28).
The Hawks then host six-straight home matches, all in conference play and all of which make up the entire schedule for the month of October. All six matches utilize the available weekend dates, with UMBC and Binghamton visiting West Hartford on back-to-back days. The Hawks and Retrievers will make up the home conference opener on Friday, October 5, while the Bearcats enter the Reich Family Pavilion on Saturday, October 6.
The following weekend, the Hawks welcome Providence and New Hampshire to West Hartford. The Hawks and Friars open the weekend on Friday night, October 12, while New Hampshire visits on Saturday, October 13. Two Sunday afternoon matches round out the home schedule with Albany visiting the Hartford Volleyball Arena on October 21 and Stony Brook on October 28.
After a 35 day break from the road, the Hawks close out the season with back-to-back road weekends, the first going south and visiting Binghamton (November 2) and UMBC (November 4). The final weekend of the regular season will have the Hawks traveling north to New Hampshire (November 9) and Providence (November 11). The top four teams following the regular season with qualify for the 2012 America East Championship, which will be hosted by the highest seeded team and is scheduled to start on November 16.
The Hartford volleyball team finished 2011 with a 12-18 overall record and matched their league best record since 2003 of 3-9. The Hawks will be led by returning outside hitter Kami Nethersole who led the Hawks with 463 kills, breaking the 1,000 kill plateau as a junior. The lone senior of the squad returns after being named to the America East All-Conference First Team.
She will be joined by a pair of All-Rookie selections in sophomores Sareeta Nethersole and Jackie Tamburri. Nethersole was tied for second on the team with 277 kills, while Tamburri marshaled the Hawks offense as the primary setter, finishing the season with 1,217 assists, the most in a single season since the start of rally scoring.
