BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Hilbert College volleyball team took one on the chin tonight as they suffered a three-set loss at Medaille, but the Hawks hit well and were competitive each set.

The first and third set could have gone either way, as Medaille won both those sets by a total of five points (25-23, 25-22).  Hilbert battled late in the middle set but fell 25-19 to drop to 2-3 in NEAC action.

Medaille improved to 4-0 in league play and 8-3 overall.

The Hawks finished the match with a .247 attack percentage, the best hitting performance they have had in a loss this year.  They were consistent each set (.214/.261/2.73) and posted double-digit kills in two of the three sets.

Medaille benefited from 11 service aces, while the Hawks posted six.

Korey Schwab was credited with a pair of aces, so he is only one-away from tying Adam Weaver (84) and two away from becoming the program's All Time Service Ace leader.

Tanner Makowski, Michael Podgorny and Brett Kane all collected kills and Adam Heftka posted a service ace as Hilbert jumped on Medaille 4-0 to start the first set.  The Mavs responded with a pair of their own kills, and a pair of Hilbert hitting errors to knot the score 4-4.

It was a tight match until Hilbert went on a five-point run to take over 21-19.  Heftka picked up two more service aces in that run.  With the Hawks up 23-22, Medaille closed the set with a kill and a service ace for the two-point win.

The second set was similar to the opening set, except the Mavericks went on a five-point run to open-up a close-game to a 23-18 score.  Podgorny's kill closed the gap to 23-19, but a Hilbert service error and a Medaille ace pushed the match to their third set.

In the final game, Medaille started with a rhythm, scoring a pair of points before Hilbert got one.  They repeated that cycle until the score was 11-6 Mavs.  Hilbert responded with a pair of kills by Schwab and Podgorny slicing the lead to a one-point game 11-10.  The hosts jumped ahead by three then four points and held on to that lead for a while. 

Korey Schwab cut the difference to two (24-22) behind a kill and then his 83rd career service ace, but Medaille grabbed the match victory off a Hilbert error.

Both Korey Schwab and Michael Podgorny (.500) led the attack with eight kills and Trevor Gabamonte led with 10 digs.  Adam Heftka assists on 24 kills and added four more service aces to his career total.  Tanner Makowski collected one solo block and a pair of block assists tonight.

Hilbert has a long break in their schedule until they play again.  The Hawks have just over two weeks off from competition and return to action on March 4 and 5 when they travel to Wilson College for another two-day NEAC cross-over weekend.