HAMBURG, N.Y.  – Hilbert College Men's Volleyball hosted their first multi-team event this afternoon and the Hawks were blanked by SUNY Poly and Trine University in the Hafner Recreation Center.
 
THE BASICS

12 PM:  SUNY Poly 25, 25, 25 | Hilbert 18, 20, 19
  2 PM:  Trine  25, 25, 25 | SUNY Poly 23, 16, 23
  4 PM:   Trine 25, 25, 25 | Hilbert 12, 9, 21
Location:      Hafner Recreation Center | Hilbert College
Records: Hilbert 3-6 | SUNY Poly 4-6 | Trine 6-4
 
SUNY POLY
 
The Hawks struggled to earn points at the service line, finishing the 3-set match committing 14 service errors overall.
 
Brad Converse recorded a team-best eight kills, and Michael Pozzuto led with eight digs.  Five different Hawks chipped in on block assists with Mehkai Francis earning two.  Tyler Hassell, the only Hawk server to not be tagged with a service error, led with two service aces.
 

• Poly stacked seven points together in the opening set building an 11-3 lead and they never looked back rolling to the 25-18 win.
• Even though Hilbert was tagged with nine service errors in the second set, the Hawks played point-for-point with Poly.  Hilbert stayed within one-point but were unable to knot the game on the scoreboard.  The Wildcats created enough room for the win, after going up 18-14 which forced a Hilbert timeout.
• Hilbert took an 8-7 lead in the third set, then faced back-to-back blocks by SUNY Poly and slipped behind 11-8.  The Wildcats used another 4-point run and created a 15-9 score but Hilbert rallied back. Trailing 20-14, Hilbert stacked five points together making it a 20-19 game.  The momentum shifted back to Poly for the 25-19 win.

TRINE
 
The Thunder continued to roll over Hilbert after beating SUNY Poly in three sets.  Hilbert played flat and didn't have as much energy as they had against SUNY Poly.  The Hawks finished with 22 kills, and three blocks while Trine recorded 31 kills, eight service aces and six blocks.
 
Converse led with eight kills, Nikolas D'Andrea added seven and Tyler Hassell (two blocks) chipped in five kills.  Michael Pozzuto was credited with 11 digs and Austin Chandler had 19 assists.

• Trine opened the match with a 7-0 run and added another stretch of six un-answered points to sprint to the 25-12 win.
• The Thunder used another push of 14-2 run building a 19-7 advantage and coasted to the 25-9 victory.
• The Hawks made the third set a game, as they stayed with Trine through to a 12-12 and a 14-14 score. Three Hilbert errors added to the four Thunder earned points which ultimately put the game out of reach. 

UP NEXT
Hilbert returns to action next weekend when they travel to Cincinnati, OH for a two-day tournament hosted by Mount St. Joseph University.  The Hawks will face Marian University February 17th before going up against Loras College and the hosts February 18th.