PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Making the program's first postseason appearance, the Hilbert College Men's Volleyball team started slowly but put up a fight to the bitter end against St. Vincent College tonight.
The Hawks concluded the 2023 season with a 3-0 loss to the Bearcats, but recorded the most kills in a 3-set match this year, finishing with a 9-16 overall record.
St. Vincent advances to the semifinals of the AMCC tournament and will face No. 1 Penn State Behrend Friday, April 14
th in Erie, Pa.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hilbert finished the first set with eight kills and eight hitting errors, but then came alive the next two games, earning one more kill (15-14) than the Bearcats in the second and four additional kills (17-13) in the third set when the Hawks produced their highest hitting percentage in a set (.361).
- St. Vincent jumped out to a 14-5 lead, extended it to 20-10 and claimed the 25-14 victory.
- The second set was much more competitive, though Hilbert never led, they kept the score close. The Hawks pulled within one point on three occasions, the last being 9-10. The Hawks earned eight of their final 10 points while the Bearcats earned only six of their team's final 15 points in the 25-18 final.
- The third set mirrored the second as it became a back-and-forth momentum shift. Hilbert, trailing 17-11, manufactured a 9-3 run and knotted the game at 20-20. The set saw six more tie-score situations until the Bearcats rallied from the 27-27 score to the 29-27 match final.
The Hawks earned 45 points off 40 kills, two service aces, and three blocks, while the Bearcats earned 51 points fueled by 41 kills, five service aces and five blocks. Hilbert led in assists (38-36) and were very close in digs (41-46).
Brad Converse (11),
Alex Overhoff (10) and
Chris Laboy (9) earned all but nine of the Hawk's 40 team kills.
Luis Garcia led with 13 digs and Converse chipped in eight.
Austin Chandler (18 assists) and
Ryan Levcik (13 assists) shared time quarterbacking the offense.
Dylan Suter and
Alex Overhoff were credited with both solo blocks as well as the one block assist recorded.