Three Connecticut teams, three sweeps. In a week that saw many 3-0 final scores, Central Connecticut volleyball was only able to pull out a single win in their three games.

Starting off the week in Hartford, Central was looking to repeat their performance from last season, where they were able to defeat the Hawks easily in a 3-0 sweep. Going against Hartford’s first-year head coach Vinh Nguyen, Central coach Linda Sagnelli and the Blue Devils knew they were in for a tough matchup against the strong defense of the Hawks.

Central started off the match with an error by outside hitter Madelyn Kaprelyan, a rare occurrence for the junior but a common mistake for the team Wednesday night. Central would end the first set with 13 errors, their most in a single set this year. Despite the errors, they were able to rally late and take a 19-17 lead, before ultimately falling 25-23.

Central was able to tone down the errors in the second set, posting eight. Unfortunately, Hartford’s strong defense at the net halted any attempt by the Blue Devils to even the match, as they were able to quickly jump out to a 14-4 lead. Trying to narrow the gap, Central was eventually able to bring the game to 17-12, though the Hawks would close the set on an 8-3 run to secure victory, 25-15.

Desperate to stay alive in the match, the Blue Devils kept things close throughout the crucial third set. Trading point for point, neither team led by more than two points until Hartford went on a run to stretch the lead to 21-16. Central would score one more point on a signature Kaprelyan kill before Hartford would close the set 25-17, winning the match.

Sagnelli, perplexed with the storm of errors throughout the match, saw that “we had an incredible amount of errors right from the first set. That became more of a focus than it should have been. Once one player started accumulating errors, it became contagious to the whole team. It had less to do with what Hartford was doing offensively as it was what we weren’t doing.”

Although the match certainly did not go as planned for Central, Sagnelli also noted that it will stand as “ a learning experience for us, we gave away 13 points. We have to address being mentally prepared, no matter who the opponent.”

After their jarring loss Wednesday, Central looked for redemption against Quinnipiac.

Going into the match, Quinnipiac had not won a match and only won a single set through their first four games. Though they have not had many strong showings yet, Sagnelli insisted that “we will have to mentally prepare” for the matchup against the Bobcats, noting that the two teams have scrimmaged and “know each other already.” 

The Blue Devils seemed ready as ever for their in-state matchup, though the score was kept close throughout most of the first set, where back-and-forth runs by both teams saw the score tied at 22 late. Three straight errors from Quinnipiac and a block from sophomores Eline van Heijningen and Samantha McCreath would mark a victory in the first set for Central, 25-22.

Central kept their momentum from the first set going into the second. After dropping the first point of the set, Central held a lead over  Quinnipiac for the remainder of the match. The Bobcats were able to come within a point with a run late, but the Blue Devils were able to erase the 23-22 score after a timeout by scoring three straight to close the set 25-22.

The (bob)cat and mouse back-and-forth continued into the third set, where the teams traded points up to a 22-21 Central lead. Central would close out the match and set with a kill by Morgan Wycik followed by two Quinnipiac errors, grabbing the Blue Devils their second win of the season. Erin McDermott led Central with 19 assists, while Kaprelyan and McCreath each added on eight kills.

Yale would be the last on the list for Central’s “Battle of Connecticut.” The Bulldogs won their lone game leading up to their Saturday match up against CCSU.

Central kept pace with Yale throughout the first set, with neither team leading by more than two points throughout. They continued to trade blows until Yale capitalized on two Central errors to win the first set, 25-22.

Both teams had impressive runs throughout the second set, including an 8-1 run by Central that helped catapult them to a 22-19 lead late in the set. Yale seemingly flipped a switch after this and scored six straight to close out the second set with the same score, 25-22.

The third set proved to be the most exciting of the match for the Connecticut teams. Central faced an early deficit of 18-12 but was able to rally with a 7-2 run capped off by a clutch ace from Heijningen to tie the set at 22. Central would continue to keep pace with Yale until the Bulldogs were able to score two straight and win the set 27-25. 

After a hard fought week for Blue Devil volleyball, their record now stands at 2-5 and will have a shot at redemption in the Fairfield tournament this upcoming weekend.