The Northern Essex Knights womenʼs volleyball team had an 11 game schedule, with only two of those being homes games. The first was on October 6th versus New Hampshire Technical Institute, the second on October 12th, which would also serve as the last game of the teamʼs inaugural season.
Before playing NHTI the Knights had a record of 0-7 on the season. Six of the losses ended with NECC being shutout, 3-0. They went in to the first home game hopeful for their first win.
“Iʼm very excited to have it back,” Athletic Director Sue MacAvoy said before the game. “Itʼs tough to watch because I coached it for 15 years but Iʼm so happy to see it, Iʼm happy to see Monica and Tiffany do a great job”
There was another storyline before the match began. The assistant coaches on both teams, Tiffany Gadd for NECC and Jillian Ciampa for NHTI, had played for the Knights womenʼs volleyball team in 2010 when MacAvoy was coaching the team.
“Makes me feel good, two former players doing something that I love,” MacAvoy said.
There was a good sized crowd for the first home game of the season. When NHTI got to the court, they were a noticeably bigger team than the NECC Knights. While the Knights had only 2 people on their bench most of the time, NHTI had a full bench, ready for anything. Though, during the pre-game it was clear NECC had a tight knit team.
NHTI and their depth was just too much for the Knights, as the Knights were shutout for the seventh time this season. NECC now held a record of 0-8.
Before the Knights came back for their second home game they had to play two games at the CCRI Tournament in Rhode Island. They lost both of the games and were shutout in both, now having a 0-10 record. NECC came home from CCRI for their last home game, and last game of the season.
They took on Bunker Hill Community College, the only team that the Knights didnʼt get shutout by, on the first game of the season. BHCC did shutout the Knights during the CCRI Tournament however.
The Bunker Hill squad was about the same size as NECC, unlike the large NHTI team they faced in their first home game. The crowd was the same size as the first home game. During the announcements of the playerʼs names, the Northern Essex announcer had a hard time pronouncing two of the BHCC players names. It was a silly tension- cutting moment.
The game got off to a fast-paced start, though it slowed down pretty quickly. The Knights lost their first set. During the second set the Knights were on fire most of the time. They won their first set in 10 games. They ended up losing the third set, and losing the game 3-1.
The team lost their only two games at home, and went 0-9 on the road.