The UConn women’s volleyball team extended their program-best start to the season, finishing up their non-conference schedule with a perfect 12-0 record. The Huskies swept their weekend slate, defeating the University of New Hampshire and Brown University on the road, before returning to Storrs for a victory against Central Connecticut State University.
The Huskies kicked off the weekend on Thursday with a back-and-forth 3-1 win over UNH. In the first set, UConn came back from a 16-13 deficit fueled by aces by juniors Brenna Wyman and Emma Werkmeister. Connecticut held off a late Wildcat run to take the first set 25-22.
Set two started with an ace from freshman Grace Maria and a kill by freshman Loren Winn. This set was just as competitive as the first, where the Huskies found themselves down 10-6. But UConn came right back, with another ace from Maria putting the Huskies back on top at 14-13. UConn went on to score seven of the next ten, capped off by a stuff from grad student Taylor Pannell. Junior Hanna Tylska closed out the set with a kill, putting the Huskies at 25-21.
UNH managed to win the third set in a nail-biting 26-24 finish. However, UConn regrouped going into set four, where, after tying at 11-11, the Huskies would score nine of the next 12 led by kills from Werkmeister and redshirt sophomore Audrey Rome. Another ace from Werkmeister and her 18th kill of the night gave UConn their largest lead of the match at 21-14. Connecticut was able to close this one out 25-19 for their tenth straight win.
Next on the schedule was another Ivy League victory in sweep fashion coming against Brown. Both squads struggled with errors early on, until Werkmeister ignited the UConn offense with back-to-back aces. Brown soon found momentum of their own, climbing to a 14-13 lead. The Huskies maintained a hard-fought battle led by four kills from Pannell and continued dominance from the service line, holding off the Brown Bears after a late rally to win 25-21.
Werkmeister continued her strong play alongside sophomore Jess Perry’s contributions in both her blocks and spikes to get UConn up to a 7-6 lead. Consecutive kills from Pannell helped expand their advantage. Brown responded once again, eventually tying it back up at 14. The Brown Bears sustained their momentum to create a four-point cushion at 20-16. Taylor Pannell took this personally, going on a rampage of four straight kills, leading the charge for a 7-0 UConn run. Tylska followed suit with three kills of her own before Audrey Rome finished it off 25-21.
The Huskies carried this momentum into the third set, with three errors by the Brown Bears sandwiched between aces from senior Doga Kutlu, giving UConn an early 8-3 lead. However, Brown did not back down so easily, stringing together a run of their own to knot it up at nine. Another pair of aces for Werkmeister brought her up to seven for the evening, leading the Huskies to a sweep of the Bears. A valiant effort by Brown brought it to within two before the Huskies, and Rome, once again, went on to close out the set, once again by a margin of 25-21.
The Huskies concluded their weekend on Saturday with a dominant showing over Central Connecticut State University. Both squads traded three-point runs to start off before a huge block and ace from Tylska swung the momentum toward Connecticut. A mix of timely defense and powerful spikes powered UConn to score seven of the next 10. Going into the timeout, the lead was 15-9. The Huskies never looked back, applying continued pressure on the Blue Devils, the offense rolling to pick up 10 of the next 14, capping the set off 25-13 with a Wyman ace and dump from Kutlu.
The second set started off hot with a Kutlu ace and another early 3-0 lead. Right when UConn seemed ready to run away after another three straight points, consecutive aces from the Blue Devils turned it into 6-4. A challenged out call started another Husky run with a Wyman ace and continued defense, keeping Central off balance. The Huskies went on a 12-5 scoring run, forcing a CCSU timeout. Every attempt by the Blue Devils to swing the momentum was met by the calm UConn offense maintaining their advantage. The blocks were on point to shut down the Blue Devils’ attacks. The Huskies piled on to get to 18-10. Central wasn’t done, though, with a pair of aces on the tail end of a four-point run to get within five. Coming out of the timeout, Central picked up another ace followed by a service error to end the drought for the Huskies. However, CCSU’s momentum wasn’t enough; the set ended 25-18, UConn.
The third and final set was when UConn put it all together, with another Kutlu ace, impressive blocks, and lengthy rallies fueling a quick 7-1 advantage. A couple of misses from the Blue Devils and Tylska’s fourth ace of the match made it 10-2 quickly. The Huskies found their groove and were met with no defense from Central. Connecticut was on point in every aspect of this one: pressure from the service line, killer blocks and impressive attacks to run away with this set. Final score: 25-7. Another sweep for the Huskies to improve to 12-0 this season.
With this weekend’s success, UConn volleyball accomplished a program first with an undefeated non-conference schedule. They now look to carry this momentum and consistency into their upcoming conference matchups.