HAMBURG, N.Y. –  The Hilbert College Men's Volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory over Thiel College tonight in the Hafner Recreation Center.
 
Tonight's match stretched into overtime with Hilbert taking the first two sets (28-26 and 25-23) before dropping the last full pair (11-25 and 22-25).  The Hawks outlasted the Tomcats in the final set, winning the match with another 16-14 nail-biter and earned the program's first win over Thiel in their last 19 tries.
 
Hilbert (3-3) moved into sixth place just a game ahead of Penn State Altoona (3-4) as they both continue to battle for the for a spot in the post-season tournament.

Thiel outpaced the Hawks with their six team blocks; 0therwise, the match was evenly played as both teams recorded 53 kills, and five service aces while finishing one or two touches off from the other (74/75 digs, 47/50 assists).
 
Brad Converse was a beast at the net earning game-high honors with 21 kills (.405) and led the Hawks with two aces.
 
Four Hawks notched double digit digs, led by Alex Overhoff's 15. Converse and Austin Chandler, who funneled the offense with 46 assists, also kept play alive with 14 digs each and Michael Pozzuto chipped in 11.
 
Tyler Hassell (.304) and Overhoff each added nine kills while Nick Diello, who just returned to action, helped lift the Hawks in the fifth set with three timely kills. 

• Thiel came out strong in the opening set, building a 9-4 lead before the Hawks made it interesting. The Tomcats maintained their three-point advantage until Hilbert scored six points to take a 21-20 lead. Playing through six tied scores, Hilbert used an Overhoff kill for the 27th point and benefited from a Thiel attack error for the 28-26 win.
• Hilbert continued to play with confidence and rolled to a 13-9 lead and were able to keep it a four-point spread till a 19-15 score. The Tomcats knotted the game for the first time at 21-all, and two more times before the Hawks secured their final two points again off an Overhoff kill and a visiting team's attack error (25-23).
• Thiel was all business in the third set as the Hawks relaxed a little too much. Hilbert dug themselves into a 10-point hole (17-10) and had no answers as Thiel won easily – 25-11.
• The fourth set was intense with neither team building a larger than a three-point margin, which Hilbert had done (16-13). Thiel responded and held on for the 25-22 victory and forced the fifth set.
• Thiel looked as if they were going to run away with the match early in the 5th. Hilbert rallied back from a 6-2 deficit and took a 10-9 lead after stacking four points together. Thiel evened the score at 10 and forced three more tie-score situations, but the Hawks never relinquished the lead and used back-to-back kills by Overhoff and Converse for the historic win. 

Hilbert (7-13, 3-3 AMCC) returns to the Hafner Recreation Center this Saturday for their final home AMCC match of the year. The Hawks will honor their three seniors – Austin Chandler, Alex Overhoff, and Chris Smith – prior to the 12 pm March 30th game against Mount Aloysius (8-13, 1-8).