Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


HAMBURG, NY – In nine sets played for the Hawks, Adam Weaver had 50 kills as Hilbert split their games, falling to Juniata 3-1 and beating Penn State Altoona 3-2. Juniata, the #1-ranked team in DIII men's volleyball also sailed past Altoona 3-0 to complete today's tri-match.

Juniata took the opening game against Hilbert, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-16, 25-12). In the first set, Andrew Duncan's kill off a David Mellerski set notched the score up at 19. However, back-to-back aces by Juniata's Alex McColgin gave Juniata the 22-19 lead. Weaver responded with two kills of his own but it was not enough and the Hawks fell 25-22.

Hilbert was able to take an early 9-3 lead in the second set due to Juniata's four straight attack errors and Korey Schwab's strong offensive presence. Juniata pulled within four (16-12) but Schwab drilled a kill to the back corner and followed it up with a solo block to give Hilbert the six-point lead. Hilbert continued to fire on all cylinders and led by as much as eight until the Hawks finally grabbed the 25-18 win. The final two sets consisted of strong offensive play by Juniata and errors by Hilbert. In the first two sets Hilbert combined for only six errors, but combined for 15 errors in the final two sets.

Weaver led the way for the Hawks with 13 kills while Schwab added nine kills and eleven digs. Ryan Ratajczak had eight digs in the loss and Mellerski had 28 assists. For Juniata, Alex McColgin had nine kills to go with the team-high five digs. Matt Elias and Ryan Shelton each added fifteen assists.

In the second game of the trimatch, Juniata handled Penn State Altoona easily with three straight wins (25-12, 25-17, 25-14). Tommy Keisling led Juniata with nine kills and Shelton added 10 assists. Ben Krouse was a part of seven of Juniata's 26 assisted blocks. For Penn State Altoona, Jacob Byers had four of the team's nine kills, while Andy Panizzi put up six assists in the loss.

Prior to the third set, Adam Weaver was honored as the lone senior on the Hawks squad. The Hawks found themselves down 10-5 in the early going. After a timeout, they regrouped and were able to tie the game up at 11 apiece. Both teams continued to battle and Hilbert took a 20-19 lead before PS Altoona scored six straight points to win the opening set, 25-20.

 Hilbert rallied after the loss and started the second set by taking a 7-0 lead. This lead was too much for Altoona to overcome and the set ended 25-14 on a service ace by Weaver, to go along with his nine kills in that set. The Hawks continued rolling and took the third set 25-21.

In the fourth set, the teams looked evenly matched and battled their way to an 12-12 tie before Altoona scored three straight off Hilbert errors. Altoona got up by as many as four before Hilbert stormed back to tie the game at 19 due to back-to-back Schwab kills. Weaver gave the Hawks a 20-19 lead off a kill but three straight Hilbert errors put the Lions back on top 22-20. Weaver had four kills over the next 12 plays but it was not enough as the Hawks fell 28-26.

Weaver and Schwab were not going to leave the gym without a win and combined for the team's nine kills in the fifth set. Hilbert got up 7-5 – four of those points were kills by Weaver. Schwab joined in and added a kill and Weaver followed with another to go up 9-6. Altoona cut it within two at 14-12 but a Schwab kill ended the game and gave the Hawks a victory.

Weaver finished the game with 37 kills and Schwab added 13 kills and 10 digs. Ratajczak contributed a game-high 24 digs and was one of three Hilbert players in double-digits for digs. Mellerski had 47 assists and 11 digs. Jacob Byers of Altoona had six kills in the opening set before an injury early in the second that kept him out the rest of the game. Daniel Reilly had 15kills, while Brandson Stitt had 18 digs.

The Hawks (7-25, 1-10) completed their home stand today and they will close-out their 2014 season Saturday at D'Youville College.  The Hawks will play Penn State Altoona at 5pm and D'Youville at 7pm.