BUFFALO, N.Y. –   The Hilbert College men's volleyball team dropped an early morning match to SUNY Poly today after starting the day strong. 

The Hawks took the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-19 before SUNY Poly claimed sets three and four by identical scores (25-21).  The Wildcats outlasted the Hawks in the final set to claim their second NEAC win in three tries. 

Michael Podgorny and Korey Schwab posted double-digit kills as they combined for 27 of the Hawks 43 team kills.  Podgorny led with 14 kills (.206) and Schwab added 13 (.300) along with eight digs and one solo block.

Adam Heftka finished with three service aces and 34 assists.  Tyler Sieczkarek collected four block assists and Heftka added three at the net.  Brett Kane grabbed a quarter of the Hawks' 36 digs as he was credited with nine digs.

Poly led in the opening set until the Hawks knotted the game for the first time at 11-11.  Every other point fell the Hawks way as both teams played through eight additional ties.  After the Wildcats committed a service error, Korey Schwab earned another kill to give Hilbert a 24-22 advantage.  A Hilbert miss-hit set the score back to a one-point lead and then Tanner Makowski killed home the final 25-23 score.

The Hawks led from start to finish in the second set.  Once the score reached 12-10 in Hilbert's favor, the Hawks went on a 10-1 run for a 20-11 lead.  Podgorny and Sieczkarek picked up one kill each in that run with the Wildcats donating the other eight points to the Hawks.  Hilbert collected two of their final points from Schwab and Podgorny's ball placement on the opposite side of the net for the 25-16 victory.

The Wildcats took the lead in the third set after six ties which ran up to 10-10.  SUNY Poly extended their lead to 15-10 which turned out to be too large of a gap for the Hawks to recover from.  Hilbert was able to get as close as two points (22-20) but the Wildcats went on a run to reach 25 first.

Hilbert rallied in the fourth set when they trailed 17-15.  The Hawks went on a 4-0 run to take a 19-17 lead and forced the Wildcats into a timeout.  Heftka scored a pair of service aces and Makowski was credited with a kill in that run.  Hilbert maintained their lead until the Wildcats burst to the end of the set on a 7-0 run for the win (25-21).

Hilbert started slow in the third set, committing a pair of hitting errors and gave up a service ace only to sprint back to a 3-3 tie.  The Hawks then spotted the visitors four additional points which gave SUNY Poly a 9-4 lead.  Hilbert was able to cut the score to a two-point differential, down 12-10, but the Wildcats went up 14-10 and needed just one more point for the rubber match win.

Hilbert (5-6, 2-2 NEAC) returns to NEAC action at the same location they played this weekend.  The Hawks will face Medaille College back in the Sullivan Center on Wednesday, February 17 at 7pm.  Live Stats and streaming video ($) is available.