The girls are coming off two great wins against Saint Micheal’s in three sets, and Post in five sets, extending their wins to six, and losses are still at four. The last time they lost was Sept. 23 in a close match against Franklin Pierce, losing three to two in five sets. After their win against Post, Saint A’s freshmen Mckenna O’Connell earned the NE10 Rookie of the Week, the first of her college career. She is also third in the conference in assists per set, averaging 8.34 per set. Some other big contributors to the team are the leader in points at 131.0 and points per set at 3.20, Hollyn Frano, the leader in service aces at 23, Skylar Ryan, and the leader in blocks at 25.0 per match, Payton Elward. The head coach, Anna McGann, describes some of the returning talent on the team: “We have a lot of returning talent; Hollyn Franco and Taylor Lacerda on the outside, Miia Dembski has been doing a great job on the right, and our defense is grounded by Maddie Burke and Skylar Ryan.” She also emphasized that the team is a well-balanced machine. “It’s a team effort”, the coach said. “And we have a lot of people stepping into big roles but also have a lot of depth on our bench in big moments as well.” It was a rocky start to the season for the girls’ volleyball team. They split the first two matches at the Saint Anselm/SNHU Tournament. They lost the season opener against Minnesota Crookston 3-1, but they rebounded against Felician winning the opposite, 3-1. They also took two out of four matches at the Redderson Invitational. The first match against Young Harris University was won in a five-set match but lost that momentum in a set sweep against Lander. Winston Salem State also took down the Hawks 3-2. For the last game of the Invitational, the Hawks had a good close out game against Chowan, winning 3-1. The next four matches were pure domination by the Hawks. They swept SNHU 3-0 but dropped the next one against Franklin Pierce. Then the two wins against Saint Micheals and Post to round out the season thus far. Coach McGann describes the NE10 as a “tough conference to play in,” but says that the team trains “for one game at a time and how we can be confident heading into any match.” The Bentley Falcons are the next obstacle in the way of the Hawks. The nine wins and four loss Falcons will open their NE10 play Oct. 3 matchup against the Hawks after a set sweep against Assumption, winning 3-0. Bentley brings a lot to the table including the premier play of Sophia Poehlein, who leads her team in points, kills, points per set, and kills per set. Poehlein’s 3.51 kills per set puts her second in the NE10 in that category, as well as being named the NE10 Player of the Week. Some other notable names for Bentley are Tory Vitko, who has earned NE10 Setter of the Week three times this year thus far, as well as being second in the NE10 for assists per set, coming in as 9.07 a/s, as well as on the defensive side, Elizabeth Blinn who has been named the division’s defensive player of the week twice this year. Coach McGann has a certain mindset when it comes to this match against Bentley. “Our mindset going into the match against Bentley is the same as what we have been working on the past couple of games; one point, one set, one match.”