Saint Anselm’s women’s volleyball team hosted four schools in a two-day Hawks Invitational volleyball tournament on Sept. 8-9.  

Participating teams included Saint Anselm (NH), Assumption College (MA), Nyack College (NY), Bentley University (MA), and Edinboro University (PA).

The Hawks started the tournament on Friday with an early victory during their first match of the day against the Assumption Greyhounds.

The game went back and forth, Saint Anselm winning the first and third sets, Assumption winning the second and fourth. The game went into a fifth set to decide a winner.

Senior Katy Teets, leading the Hawks with 28.5 points for the game, hit a kill to earn a vital point for the home team. Assumption then gave up the final point of the set due to an attacking error, ending the set with a score of 15-9. Saint Anselm defeated Assumption 3 sets to 2.

Saint Anselm rolled into their second match of the day on Friday when they faced the Edinboro Fighting Scouts. Both teams played stayed focus and kept the competition close. The game went on for five sets, each within a scoring margin of no more than four points.

Edinboro was in control as Saint Anselm trailed nearly the entire fifth set.  The Fighting Scouts went on a scoring run and ended the set with a score of 14-11 and a score of 3-2 for the game.  

On Saturday, the teams got back to action after a night of rest and recovery. Saint Anselm’s first game was against Bentley University.

Bentley, a division rival, had never lost a volleyball game to Saint Anselm. The Hawks came out determined and unleashed an offensive attack.

Bentley won the first set 25-18 but the Hawks quickly turned things around. Sets two and three were swift work for Saint Anselm, with scores of 25-17 and 25-16.  Set four was a point-for-point nail biter.

The Hawks were up 24-20 towards the end of the set but Bentley fought back and went on a three-point scoring run to bring the score to 24-23. Senior Amanda Williams hammered the ball into the floor at Bentley’s feet to earn the final point for Saint Anselm.

With a final score of 3 games to 2, Saint Anselm’s women’s volleyball won their first victory against Bentley in program history.

Saint Anselm was off to a great start as they rolled into their final match of the tournament against the Nyack Warriors. With heads held high after their historic victory against Bentley, the Hawks made light work of Nyack.

The final game of the tournament ended after three victorious sets for the Hawks. The third set of game three was won after the Hawks went on an impressive seven point scoring run. Sophomore Catherine McCarthy led the Hawks with 12.5 points and was the only member from her team to achieve double digit scoring.

Teets was named to the All-Tournament Team after her outstanding performance over the weekend. She now claims a total of 105 points for the season and is likely to finish her senior year on a high note.

Saint Anselm looked confident after coming away with a 3-1 record for the tournament. Strong performances were seen throughout the weekend.  Hawk volleyball is historically very strong and they are likely to go far in the NE-10 this year.

Saint Anselm faces Southern New Hampshire University on Sept. 12 at home, followed by an away game on Sept. 16 in conference action vs Pace University.