CANTON, N.Y. – Hilbert College Women's Volleyball opened play at the North Country Classic on Friday, dropping a four-set match to the hosting SUNY Canton Roos before rebounding with a five-set victory over Keuka. The Hawks finished the day with a 1-1 record and improved to 3-8 overall.
SUNY Canton 3, Hilbert 1
Hilbert opened the tournament by splitting the first two sets before falling to SUNY Canton by scores of 25-14, 18-25, 25-23, and 25-14. The Hawks responded to a first-set loss with a strong effort in the second frame, but the Roos edged Hilbert in a closely contested third set before securing the match in the fourth.
Lindsay Madigan led the Hawks with eight kills, 18 assists, nine digs, and four block assists.
Kimberly Schmitt added seven kills, while
Riley O'Neill contributed four kills and four service aces. Defensively,
Jade Schiller recorded a team-best 12 digs.
Hilbert finished the match with 31 kills, seven service aces, and 11 total blocks.
Meghan Balen posted five block assists, while
Charly Mathews added three kills on a .286 hitting percentage.
Hilbert 3, Keuka 2
The Hawks capped the day with an impressive comeback victory over Keuka, rallying from multiple deficits to earn a 19-25, 25-16, 14-25, 25-23, 15-11 win in five sets.
After dropping the opening set, Hilbert responded with one of its strongest stretches of play in the second set. The Hawks recorded 11 kills while limiting Keuka's attack and rolled to a 25-16 victory to even the match.
Keuka answered with a 25-14 win in the third set to move within a set of victory, but Hilbert refused to go away. The Hawks battled through a back-and-forth fourth set that featured nine tie scores and five lead changes before pulling out a 25-23 win and forcing a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set followed a similar script. With the teams trading points throughout, Hilbert capitalized late and closed the match on a 15-11 victory to complete the comeback and earn its third win of the season. The match featured 29 tie scores and 18 lead changes overall.
Hilbert totaled 39 kills, 61 digs, nine service aces, and 16 total blocks in the victory.
Lindsay Madigan led the way with 24 assists, four aces, 10 digs, and five total blocks.
Lezly McComber paced the attack with eight kills while hitting .412, and
Onolee Easterbrook added eight kills.
Defensively,
Jade Schiller recorded a match-high 21 digs and four service aces, while
Ciara Grey added 11 digs.
Jordan Austin chipped in six kills and 10 digs, and
Meghan Balen contributed four blocks to help the Hawks secure the five-set win.
UP NEXT:
The Hawks head to SUNY Potsdam tomorrow for day two at the North Country Classic. Hilbert will take on SUNY Potsdam and Husson University inside Maxcy Field House.
