The Hartford Hawks women’s volleyball team looks to come into this season with a full head of steam.

After being predicted to finish sixth in the America East preseason poll by the coaches, the Hawks’ have the opportunity to soar higher than ever.

First-year head coach Mitch Kallick, along with nine returning student-athletes, give the team a chance to build upon their recent success of last season as they finished with a record of 17-13. Head coach Kallick can surely make the winning culture a staple for the volleyball team as he brings more than 12 years of coaching experience to the table.

The Hawks were able to secure a season-opening game at home for the first time since the 2007 season.

On Aug. 28, with much optimism looking to defend their home court, the Hawks displayed a high sense of confidence.

However, this would present the first challenge for the Hawks’ season and head coach Kallick’s Hartford debut, as it was the beginning of the UConn tournament. The Hawks’ first three games would all be part of the tournament as they looked for success in the interconference matchups.

Their first opponent, was the team whose name had the respected title of the tournament, the UConn Huskies.

The Hawks came out swinging and gave up fight the entire way through. Although falling 0-3 in the game, throughout the contest, the Hawks came back fighting as each set progressed on. Their first set ended in a 25-12 defeat, but the team came back with all their might before losing the third set to an extremely close 25-23 outcome.

Freshman Paulina Modestow left her mark on the game, recording a team-high, nine kills, while her teammate, junior Alyse Wenzel went on to record a career-high, three blocks in the game.

Although the final outcome is not what the team had hoped for, the last set was momentous enough for the Hawks to segway into their next game later that day.

Continuing with the UConn tournament, the Hawks had another interconference matchup later on in the evening against the Syracuse Orange.

Already fresh off their battle against the Huskies, the Hawks were ready to put up another tough competition against Syracuse. Holding onto the momentum of their game earlier in the day, the Hawks were able to go back and forth with the Orange, early in the first set, before reaching a stalemate of eight points for both teams.

Adding on to her impressive presence in the UConn game, Modestow added another seven kills.

Sophomore Astrid Mangual led the Hawks with a new career-high 16 assists while her teammates sophomore Katy Henchy and junior Rachel Moll had five kills apiece.

Paola Llerandi was the only player between either team, to post double digit figures in digs as she had 10 for the game.

Although the team was able to land a few more points, the Syracuse Orange remained relentless as they went on to take down the Hawks on each of their three sets.

This left the volleyball team leaving the series searching for new approaches and adjustments in order to find their way to victory for the remainder of the tournament.

Hartford’s closing game of the tournament took place on the UConn campus in Storrs, as the Hawks went onto play against the Rhode Island Rams. This would be the one of the true tests of Hartford’s strength as this was the closest contest of the three games.

In the opening set, the Rams came out to an 8-0 lead.

This was not enough to shake the Hawks as they came back from the deficit with a 14-13 score trailing only by one. Although ultimately losing the set to a score of 25-19, fifth-year player Kathryn Gawrych, recorded a team-high, six blocks in just the opening set.

The Hawks were once again, unable to find victory in their next two sets, but did finish the game off on a set score of 25-20.

This concluded the Hawks’ run in the UConn tournament and now allows them to proceed to progress.

What an outstanding crowd for @HartfordVball tonight! #HawkNationDomination pic.twitter.com/J39pWxM5Vr

— Hartford Hawks (@HartfordHawks) September 3, 2015

With some of their toughest matches behind them, and the ability to grow from their outcome, things can only be looking up for the Hawks as they continue the season.

All of Hawk Nation will continue to support the women’s volleyball team regardless of how bad they are doing.

Be sure to catch their next game away during a tournament not to far away from UHart. The tournament is scheduled to be played on Sept. 4 at Sacred Heart where they will play against, Brown, Sacred Heart and Bucknell.

Be sure to go out and support our Hawks.