Sometimes things do not always end the way you want them to—something the UNC Wilmington volleyball squad found out the hard way Sunday afternoon. The Seahawks’ season ended after they lost in four sets to CAA-leading Northeastern University. UNCW lost to the Huskies 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 25-23, 25-18).

After losing the first set to the Huskies, UNCW took the next one in a tight competition. However, the team was not able to keep momentum, dropping the final two sets after close, back-and-forth points. Although the Seahawks were unable to make the conference tournament and continue their season, coach Amy Bambenek believes they performed admirably.

“We looked very strong and very consistent at times,” she said. “We were forced to play catch-up a lot during the game, down by five points or eight points and we did a great job of evening the score. We were just unable to finish here today.”

It was also Senior Day, and the team honored its two seniors, Kelsey Bendig and Emily Mohrman. Referencing their contributions to the team, Bambenek explained the important roles each played this season.

“They have really had to go through some transition with me beginning the coach their sophomore year,” she said. “I demanded a lot of them. Emily is an extremely versatile player, able to play many different positions and play them well. And Kelsey, I put a lot of leadership and responsibility into the setter position and I am probably tougher on her being the senior setter than anybody. She handled it really well this season.”

Bendig viewed this year as a success, choosing to focus more on how the team improved as the season progressed.

“This is the best season that we’ve ever had since I have been here,” Bendig said. “We just had a lot of fight in us and wanted to prove that we were not last place in conference. We wanted to show people we could play with them, and I think we did by beating James Madison and giving Northeastern a good game.”

Bendig, who finished the game with 37 assists, leaves behind a legacy at UNCW as she moved into fourth place on the all-time assists record.

“That is a huge accomplishment for me,” she added. “The top three girls ahead of me played when each set scored up to 30 points (they are now only to 25) so they had a lot more opportunities. For me to reach over 2,000 assists is a huge feat for me and it’s amazing; I can’t believe I did that.”

Although the Seahawks (12-19, 5-9 CAA) finished the season earlier than they may have liked, Bambenek already sees a promising squad in front of her for next season.

“I’m very excited about next season. I can tell you that our freshmen and sophomores both have been doing a great job at putting up some big numbers for us,” Bambenek said. “They’ll have one more year of experience, and the recruiting class for 2012 is exceptional and one of the best we’ve had.”

In her final farewell, Bendig had some words of advice and encouragement for her teammates: “Keep fighting. Keep proving that to the CAA that we Seahawks can play with any team. I’ll miss you all.”