ONEONTA, NY – Despite trailing in the first two sets, the Hartwick volleyball team earned their second Empire 8 win of the season in style in their final home match of the season on Friday night at Lambros Arena, sweeping Utica, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19. The win moves the Hawks to 12-8 overall and 2-2 in the conference, just barely outside of an Empire 8 Tournament spot. Utica drops to 2-20, 0-4 in the conference.
Before the game, seniors Kaitlyn Ludder (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) and Madison Germuska (Encinitas, CA/La Costa Canyon) were honored for their contributions to the program.
Kaitlyn Ludder (left) and Madison Germuska during their Senior Night ceremony
Utica got off to a quick start in set one, jumping out to a 7-3 lead thanks in part to a pair of kills by Alicja Swiechowska and Lindsey Hannel. The Hawks regrouped from there, however, scoring the next seven points to take a 10-7 lead. Toria Betelak (North Syracuse, NY/Liverpool) had three of those points via kill. After a Utica point, Hartwick took control of the set with four more consecutive points, featuring a kill by Colette Maloney (Williston Park, NY/Mineola) and an ace from Katie Boak (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). The Pioneers did tighten the set up, closing to within three a few times, but at 18-15 the Hawks took seven of the final eight points to grab the match lead. 'Wick had a phenomenal first set on attack as a team, hitting .519 with 15 kills. They would go on to hit .337 for the match.
Hartwick led 4-1 in the second set after kills by Maloney, Maria Sorriento (Troy, NY/Troy), and Ludder, as well as a Maloney ace. The first point was a wild one, featuring two great digs from Kayley Ericson (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy) before Maloney eventually finished it off. The Pioneers responded to their deficit by scoring four straight points, but the Hawks fired right back with six consecutive points of their own. Utica battled back, even taking a 14-13 lead at one point, but 'Wick restored order with five straight points from there, including three kills by Maloney. Leading 19-16, they finished the set with another six-point run to push Utica to the brink.
The beginning of the third set seemed like it would lead to an easy third-set win for Hartwick, as it started with an 11-3 lead for the home team. Utica stayed with it, however, and eventually tied it at 16-all. The two teams swapped two-point runs to find themselves tied again at 18, and then the Hawks once again took over. They scored six straight points, including three more Maloney kills, to give themselves six match points. They would only need two of those, as Maloney fittingly had the final kill to cap off her great night.
Maloney tied her second-highest kill total of the season with a match-high 19 on an impressive .462 hitting, also her second-highest attack percentage of the season. She added in six digs and two aces to boot. Ludder contributed all-around on her night, registering five kills, eight digs, and a match-high three aces. Dell Potts (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane) tied for the second-most kills of all players with seven on a tidy 10 attempts, good for a .600 attack percentage. Ericson had a double-double with a match-high 37 assists and 11 digs.
Hannel had the Pioneers' highest kill total, with seven on .500 hitting. Eleanor Cepiel had 11 assists and just missed a double-double with nine digs, also adding in three kills and an ace. Brenna Stanton had eight assists and seven digs.
The Hawks will play the rest of the season on the road, starting tomorrow afternoon, when they take on Sage at 2 p.m. in another Empire 8 battle.
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