"Hamilton" wasn't the only impressive opening performance act in the Twin Cities area in the past 24 hours. The Hamline volleyball team put on an impressive show of its own on the first day of a two day tournament in Northfield. HU defeated Simpson, 3-2 and then blanked Bethany Lutheran, 3-0, to get off to a 2-0 start under second year head coach Maggie Meixl. 

With just six players back (only three of which played significant minutes last year), the question was: who, among the new folks, were ready to step up to the rigors of college volleyball. The answer was: a lot of them. 

Madison Hurrle recorded 23 kills in the sweep with fellow newcomer Gabby Robinson adding 16. A third fresh face -- Karly Bihner- kicked in 10. Some familiar faces did their part as well with Megan Rubbelke delivering 39 assists and Morgen Coleman contributing 22. Megan Anderson showed she still had the touch as well with six service aces. 

The Pipers started strong against Simpson, winning a pair of tight matches, 26-24 and 25-22. The Storm lived up to their nickname with wins in the next two sets but HU jumped to a 5-0 lead in the decider and rolled to a 15-6 win. 

After a rest, the Pipers came out swinging against BLC, winning a decision 25-12 first set. The was followed by 25-15 and 25-19 wins to cap a very good first day on the court. 

HU will look to do it again Saturday in Northfield when they face Crown (1:00 p.m.) and Martin Luther (5:00 p.m.).