HAMBURG, N.Y.  – Hilbert College finished with better stats in the team comparison view, but Pitt-Bradford escaped with a 3-2 victory in women's volleyball tonight in the Hafner.
 
The Hawks came alive and fed off the energy generated from the fans in the stands, but they were unable to put it all together down the stretch in the five-set defeat to the Panthers.
 
THE BASICS

Final score:  Pitt-Bradford 22, 25, 23, 25, 16 
                     Hilbert 25, 18, 25, 20, 14
Location: Hafner Recreation Center | Hamburg
Records: Hilbert 7-12, 0-5 AMCC | Pitt-Bradford 4-16, 1-3 AMCC
 
STAT COMPARISON
 
Points                   HIL 69 | UPB 61
Kills                       HIL 54 | UPG 41
Aces                      HIL 9   | UPB 7
Assists                  HIL 51 | UPB 36
Digs                      HIL 96 | UPB 86
Blocks                   UPB 13 | HIL 6

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• The Hawks trailed early in the opening set, but rallied from a 9-6 margin to go ahead 15-13.  After giving up four straight points, Hilbert traded sideouts with the Panthers until the Hawks stacked four points together at the end for the 25-22 win.
• Bradford led 15-6 in the second set, and built a 21-11 difference before settling in for the 25-18 win.
• The fans in the stands came alive and fueled Hilbert to a third set win, especially giving them energy when they trailed 16-14.  Hilbert put a 5-0 run together to go up 19-16, and never relinquished the lead to the 25-23 win.  Hilbert recorded four of their six blocks in the third set.
• Bradford did not quit, as they roared out to another long stretch of serves, stringing seven points together for the 10-6 advantage.  Hilbert pulled within three points multiple occasions at the end but the Panthers pulled out the 25-20 win and forced the fifth set.
• Hilbert played inspired in the shortened fifth set, forcing the bench-switch movement with an 8-4 lead.  Bradford pulled within one (8-7) but the Hawks jumped back to an 11-7 lead.  A Panther block, kill, service ace, another kill and a Hilbert attack error lifted Bradford to their first lead, 12-11.  Hilbert earned two of their next three points, and were one swing away from the win, but a service error gave the ball back to Bradford.  The Panthers used two big kills for the 16-14 win. 

STATS
 

• After recording 54 kills, three Hawks reached double figure kills, led by Katie Kociszewski's 11 (two service aces).  Michaela Rice reached for 10 kills and Jada Whitt finished with a big day, earning 10 kills, two solo blocks as well as a pair of block assists and one service ace. 
• Five Hawks posted double digit digs, led by Jessee Jonathan's 25 (41 assists).  Natalie Ruhlmann added 18 digs while Emily Garnett lifted 16 with a pair of service aces and four kills. 

UP NEXT

Hilbert returns home this Saturday for a 1pm AMCC contest against La Roche University in the Hafner Recreation Center.