LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell volleyball team concluded its America East schedule with a 3-1 (21-25, 22-25, 26-24, 20-25) loss at the hands of the Hartford Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Costello Athletic Center on Senior Day.
 
In the victorious third set, the River Hawks (3-26 overall, 1-11 AE) jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a kill from freshman outside hitter Masha Yelsukova (Santa Clara, Calif.) sandwiched between kills from sophomore middle blocker Lauren Bennett (Wilmington, Mass.).
 
 The Hawks (17-13 overall, 5-7 AE) battled back to take late leads of 21-20 and 22-21 off a kill from Chandler Goodwin and an attack error. An attack error by Hartford gave UMass Lowell the 23-22 lead. After the visitors tied up the score at 24-24, the River Hawks scored back-to-back kills from senior middle blocker Anisa Smith (Moraga, Calif.) and Yelsukova to seal the win.
 
Yelsukova led the team, tying a career-high with 19 kills, while senior outside hitter Ella Merrill (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) chipped in 13 kills. Junior setter Kylee Chun (Las Vegas, Nev.) helped facilitate the River Hawk offense with 35 assists. Senior libero Hannah Rey (San Diego, calif.) totaled a match-high 24 digs in the losing effort, while Smith also added 15 digs.
 
It marked the final home match for the four River Hawk seniors, which included, Smith, Merrill, Rey and setter Kamiren Humphrey (Tucson, Ariz.).
 
UMass Lowell heads to the Grand Canyon Reclassification Tournament on November 21-22 in the last weekend of the season.