Last Saturday was a big day for the Roger Williams University Volleyball team. The Hawks welcomed opponents from Wellesley College and Johnson & Wales University for a tri-match, which drew a large crowd in part due to Homecoming and Family Weekend taking place at the same time. Both games were hard fought and entertaining, but resulted in losses (2-3 to Wellesley and 0-3 to JWU). Despite this, the Hawks were still in good spirits, as Saturday’s matches doubled as the team’s Senior Day. 

The two seniors, Emily Bennett and Kristen Dansereau, were honored in a ceremony before the game, where they walked onto the court with their families and were given bouquets by Head Coach Danielle Davis. Both Bennett and Dansereau are outside hitters, and are now captains in their final season. 

Volleyball has been a part of both Bennett and Dansereau’s lives for over eight years. After starting in middle school, they played throughout their high school careers and were recruited to RWU Volleyball as incoming freshmen. They continued on to play throughout their college careers. “I played volleyball in high school and I played every offseason,” said Dansereau. “I pretty much played year round.” 

As journalism major Dansereau, and psychology major Bennett, look forward to graduating in the fall and spring respectively, they reflected on the value of having each other as teammates (and, more importantly, as friends) during their careers. “Kristen is the best teammate anyone could probably ask for,” said Bennett. “She’s always positive, always cheering you on, no matter what. She’s always there to support you.” 

Dansereau offered a similar sentiment for her co-captain, saying “Emily has been my biggest supporter. She is my number one. Because there’s only two of us, and have been since our sophomore year, [her] and I have gone through so much together, and she has been the most amazing person I could have asked to have on my side. She puts everything she has into the team.” 

Dansereau also commented on what she was going to miss most about the team: “I’m going to miss the girls. I’ve become close with every single one of them. It feels like we really do have a family, off the court and on the court.” She emphasized her relationship with this year’s class of first years on the team, which Bennett echoed as well. 

“We’ve learned how to work together. We have a very young team on the court. I’m very confident that in the future, they’re going to be amazing.” She hopes the team will continue to bond with each other and learn from the challenges they have faced this season, and added that she was glad to have been able to pass down “the values of what Roger Williams Volleyball upholds.”

So far this season, RWU Volleyball is 5-17. Their next match is Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 6 P.M. against Gordon College.