HAMBURG, N.Y.  –  The Hilbert College Men's Volleyball team played with a ton of energy and confidence today when they hosted Penn State Altoona in another Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference match.
 
The Hawks (5-12, 1-3) took the Lions to five sets, capturing the second and fourth games which forced the shortened fifth set.  Altoona (9-9) came away with 25-15, 20-25, 25-19, 22-25, and 15-10 set scores for their second AMCC win of the season. 
 
Brad Converse (17) and Alex Overhoff (15) were powerful at the net combining for 32 of the team's 49 kills.  Overhoff led the Hawks with five service aces, and Austin Chandler dished for 39 of the team's 45 assists.
 
Mehkai Francis was big on defense recording three solo blocks and added two block assists, and both  Michael Pozzuto (12) and Connor Higgins (10) reached double digit digs.

Altoona opened the first set with a 12-6 lead, extended it to 22-10 before winning 25-15.
 
The Hawks recovered in the second set, and after trailing 4-3 they went on a four-point run to build a 7-4 advantage and they didn't look back.  Both teams traded serves until Hilbert stacked four points together (21-16). Converse (2) and Tyler Hassell (1) earned kills while Francis scored a service ace pushing Hilbert to their 25-20 win.
 
The Lions found themselves with an 8-1 lead in the third set, but the Hawks continued to respond to the challenge.  Overhoff was credited with three kills, shared a block assist with Francis and Higgins scored from the service line to trim the margin to 9-6.  The Hawks pulled within two points (17-15) thanks to a Converse ace and Higgins kill but Altoona used four Hilbert miscues to pull out the 25-19 victory.
 
After falling behind 8-5 in the fourth set, Hilbert rallied for six-point run using a trifecta of Overhoff service aces in that 11-8 swing. Both teams played through four lead changes and after the Hawks extended their lead by three points (21-18), Converse earned two kills for the 25-22 win.
 
Altoona jumped out a 7-3 lead, but the Hawks kept battling.  Hilbert inched back to a two-point game (11-9) but ran out of time, falling 15-10.  The Lions recorded 11 kills in the 15-point set.
 
Hilbert returns to the Hafner this week for their second meeting ever against Buffalo State University on Wednesday, March 20th.