BUFFALO, N.Y. – After a ten day lay-off, the Hilbert College men's volleyball team appeared ready to pull an upset today at Medaille College.  The hosts held on for a 3-0 Buffalo Cup and North Eastern Athletic Conference win.

Hilbert (0-14, 0-9 NEAC) stayed close in the first two sets before they slipped fast in the third set as Medaille improved to 5-3 in NEAC action and evened their overall record at 10-10.

The Hawks jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the opening set.  Medaille matched the score and twice stretched their lead by a few points before Hilbert rallied back tying the set each time.  Trailing 14-13, Hilbert gave Medaille three points helping them to a 19-13 lead.  The Hawks earned only two more points the rest of the set and fell 25-19.

Hilbert and Medaille played to eight knotted scores, the last even tally at 21-21.  The Mavs benefited from three consecutive Hilbert errors and held on for the 25-22 second set win.

The Hawks earned six kills, one service ace and one block assist to collectively score eight of their 15 3rd-set points.  Medaille, though they struggled with five service errors and gave the Hawks a trio of points off hitting errors, dominated the final set.  The Mavs went from a one point deficit (6-5) to a 19-9 score quickly and won the match 25-15.

Adam Heftka was credited with 17 of the Hawks' 20 assists.  Michael Podgorny led Hilbert with 10 of their 22 kills.  Tanner Makowski added six kills and five digs.

Brandon Henry and Garrett Rehner added five and four digs, respectively.  David Arlaud earned two service aces.

The Hawks finished the match with 22 kills and 22 hitting errors.  They earned five service aces but committed 13 service errors, almost all of the errors occurring in the first two sets.

Both teams return to the court next Tuesday in Hamburg when Medaille travels to Hilbert for their second match of the season March 21.