CANTON, NY – It was a tough night on offense for the Hartwick women's volleyball team, as they lost to the host St. Lawrence Saints on the first day of the Canton Classic, 3-1 (12-25, 14-25, 25-20, 14-25). The Hawks drop to 10-7 with the loss, while St. Lawrence continues their impressive season and is now 15-3.
Hartwick grabbed a lead early in the first set at 5-2, but handed it right back to the Saints with five straight errors after a St. Lawrence kill, making it 8-5. The home side continued their first set dominance after a Toria Betelak (North Syracuse, NY/Liverpool) kill taking seven of eight points for a commanding 15-7 advantage. Julia Wagner had a pair of kills throughout the stretch, and Natalie Piper had a kill and an ace. 'Wick shaved a couple points off to make it 18-12, but the Saints then rattled off seven consecutive points to close the set.
St. Lawrence took control from the get-go in the second set, leading 3-0, 5-1, and then 11-5. The Hawks narrowed it to four a few times, but the Saints again made their move while leading 18-12. They scored four in a row, thanks in part to two Annika Kreppein kills, and eventually ended the set with three more consecutive points at 25-14.
Hartwick reversed their fortune early in the third set, taking the first three points and then going ahead 6-2 after two Dell Potts (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane) aces. They would lead by six at 10-4 when the Saints started to claw back. The hosts scored five of six to trim their deficit to two at 11-9, and then followed two Colette Maloney (Williston Park, NY/Mineola) kills with a 5-0 run to take a 14-13 lead. The Hawks stayed with it, though, registering five of the next six and seven of the next nine points to regain a late-set, 20-16 lead. St. Lawrence would come within two at 21-19, but could not complete another comeback, eventually dropping the set by five points.
The Saints made sure that there would be no set five, controlling the fourth set from the start. They went ahead 5-1 and ballooned that lead out to 11-3. 'Wick cut it to within five at 15-10, but could not continue their work as St. Lawrence took the set, 25-14, and the match, 3-1.
Maria Sorriento (Troy, NY/Troy) led the Hawks with nine kills, also digging nine balls. Maloney had seven kills and ten digs, as well as a pair of aces and a block. Sarah Petz (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) was solid on defense, easily setting a career-high with 23 digs. Kiera Walsh (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) had 12 digs, four assists, and an ace. Kayley Ericson's (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy) string of 20-plus assists in each match to start the year came to an end, as she had 18 helpers to go with seven digs and two kills.
Piper had a match-high 13 kills for St. Lawrence, matching that with 13 digs and adding in three aces and two blocks to boot. Kreppein had nine kills, ten digs and an ace, and Vivian Susko led all comers at 25 digs. Jenna Britton registered a match-high 35 assists, also contributing with eight digs and three blocks. She was outdone at the net by Amanda Teppo, who had a match-high five blocks (and six kills), and Wagner, who had four blocks to go with seven kills.
Hartwick is right back at it tomorrow for the second day of the Canton Classic. They will play SUNY Canton at 11 a.m. and Morrisville State at 1 p.m.
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