HIRAM, OH – The Hilbert College men's volleyball team returned to AMCC league action this afternoon and almost picked up their first league victory after falling in the 5-set night-cap.
 
The Hawks dropped three-straight to Hiram and battled with St. Vincent College to the bitter end, falling by a total of 11 points over five games.
 
THE BASICS

• Match Scores: Hiram  22, 25, 25, 25  I  Hilbert 14,9,20
• Match Scores: St. Vincent 25, 26, 27, 26, 15 I Hilbert 22, 24, 29, 28, 13
• Location:  Hafner Recreation Center, Hamburg, NY
• Records:  Hiram 8-3, 2-0 AMCC  I Hilbert 1-10, 0-3 AMCC  I St. Vincent 1-7, 1-1 AMCC

HIGHLIGHTS ON THE DAY
 
Brad Converse led with 23 kills (17 digs) and Ryan Levcik chipped in 21 (14 digs) for the day. Dylan Suter added nine kills, five solo blocks and three block assists.
Marcus Wloch led the defensive effort with 21 digs and Luis Retamar chipped in 18.
Austin Chandler was credited with 52 assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED - HIRAM 

• Hiram built a 12-4 margin in the opening set and extended it to 20-12 before they closed the set on a 5-2 run.  Converse, Levcik and Suter all collected three kills in that set.
• The second set had the pace of the opening set.  The Terriers built an 8-2 lead, stretched it to a 15-6 margin and, after going on a 7-point run (22-7), they closed the middle game at 25-9.  The Hawks earned four points that set, all off kills.
• Hilbert stayed with Hiram in the third set, though they trailed 15-8 midway through.  The Hawks pulled within three points (15-18) and then used a 2-point run to slice the margin to two (17-19).  Hilbert maintained that pressure late in the game, forcing a two-point spread, until 20-22.  The Terriers took the set/match, 25-20. 

GAME NOTES - HIRAM 

• Hilbert earned 27 points, 24 kills (.090), one service ace, two blocks, 21 assists and 23 digs.
• Levcik led with nine kills, Chandler with 19 assists and Converse with six digs.
• Hiram earned 50 points, 41 kills (.446), seven service aces, two blocks, 36 assists and 33 digs. 

HOW IT HAPPENED – ST. VINCENT 

• St. Vincent built an 8-4 lead, but the Hawks rallied at the net and tied the score (12-12).  The Tomcats pulled away, 12-15, yet Hilbert scratched back to a 19-20 score and kept it a one-point game until SVC pulled away at the end for the 25-22 win.
• The Hawks took a 5-3 lead, then suddenly trailed 5-7.  Hilbert knotted the game at 15's, took a lead (18-17) off Tomcat errors and went back up 19-18 thanks to a Chandler kill.  Bot teams traded points, always matching scores at 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, until the Tomcats pulled the second set win 26-24.
• The third set took a different tone.   The Hawks seemed to dictate the scoring and jumping ahead, rather than catching up.  Hilbert held a 19-16 advantage and continued to hold onto the lead each point flip until SVC went a head 27-26.  The Hawks responded with back-to-back Levcik kills and took the 29-27 win off a Tomcat attack error.
• The fourth set was all about runs.  Each team had multiple 3 or 4 point runs but when Hilbert trailed 22-15 and picked up six points off SVC errors, the Tomcats called a timeout.  SVC had the 24-21 lead after the timeout, but the Hawks rallied and jumped on top, 25-24.  Three side-outs later, the score was knotted at 26-26.  Converse's Kill earned the 28-26 set win and forced the fifth set.
• The score was tight, all the way to 5-5.  Then SVC picked up five points, two from their own success at the net, and held a 10-5 lead.  Hilbert pulled within three several times, but when they were trailing 14-10, they didn't quit.  The Hawks trimmed the margin to one point, 14-13 and had the serve.  St. Vincent claimed the 15-13 win off a kill at the net.

 GAME NOTES - ST. VINCENT

• Hilbert earned 57 points, 47 kills (.100), four service aces, six blocks, 39 assists and 69 digs.
• Converse led with 17 kills, Chandler with 33 assists and Wolch with 17 digs.
• St. Vincent earned 84 points, 65 kills (.143), 11 service aces, eight blocks, 59 assists and 82 digs.

UP NEXT

Hilbert returns to action Wednesday February 23 when they host Medaille College in the Hafner Recreation Center at 7pm.
The Hilbert SAAC club has organized a fun night to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the AMCC league.