ONEONTA, NY – In a dramatic battle by two close rivals, it was the school east of West Street that came out on top on Wednesday night at Lambros Arena, as the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons pulled out a five-set win over the Hartwick volleyball team. With the win, Oneonta is now 6-3 for the season, while the Hawks drop to 5-4.
The Red Dragons seemingly had the match on lock, winning the first two sets. In the first, they took an 8-7 lead and extended it to 13-7 via a 5-0 run. Hartwick would close it back to within three points at 16-13 and 17-14, but Oneonta re-lengthened their advantage out to six at 21-15. The Hawks again closed to three at 23-20 after a Dell Potts (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane) kill and two opposing attack errors, but the Red Dragons finished the game with a kill from Clara Culeton (her fourth of the set) and a bad 'Wick set.
Hartwick took a 9-5 lead in the second game after two Celia Gagnon (Kinderhook, NY/Ichabod Crane) aces and two Colette Maloney (Williston Park, NY/Mineola) kills made up a 4-0 run, but Oneonta responded with a 5-0 run of their own to go up 10-9, which included two Gillian Stieglitz kills and two Lindsay Pelaccio aces. After 'Wick retook the lead at 11-10, the Red Dragons went on another 5-0 run to lead 15-11. The Hawks would tie it again at 19 on after two kills from Maloney and one from Toria Betelak (North Syracuse, NY/Liverpool), but again Oneonta was back at it with three points of their own, including two Culeton kills to lead 22-19. They then won three of the next five points for a 25-21 win, taking a 2-0 set advantage and pushing Hartwick to the brink.
The Hawks would not go down easy, however. They jumped out to a 7-3 lead, partially via kills from four separate players. After an Oneonta point via a Victoria Moulder kill, 'Wick rattled off the next six points in a run that featured kills from Maloney and Gagnon and a Kiera Walsh (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) ace. The Red Dragons narrowed their deficit to three at 16-13, but Hartwick would not let this game slip away, going on another 5-0 run and thereafter cruising to a 25-18 victory in the third set.
Oneonta tried to grab control of the fourth set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead, but 'Wick would knot it up at seven after an ace from Katie Boak (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). The teams continued to string multiple points together for a bit, with the Hawks eventually taking a 14-13 lead after a 4-0 run that saw kills from Potts, Gagnon, and Walsh, as well as a Walsh ace. The Red Dragons pushed back, though, and found themselves just three points from victory with a 22-17 lead. The Hawks were determined to push this to the full five sets, however, allowing just one point the rest of the way. Kaitlyn Ludder (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) served the final four points of the set, which included two aces, one to win.
Hartwick took a 3-0 lead to begin the fifth game, but Oneonta was able to tie it at 4-all. The Hawks would find themselves up 11-7, having won five of the past six points thanks in part to two Betelak kills and a Boak ace. The Red Dragons won the two points after that to cut the Hawk lead to two, but two more Gagnon kills from Kayley Ericson (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy) put the hosts two points away from victory, at 13-9. From there, things went awry for 'Wick. Oneonta got three straight points on a Hartwick ball handling error, Kathryn Johnston kill, and Jessica Fowler ace, forcing a Hartwick timeout. The Red Dragons were not deterred, winning the next two points to cause another Hawk timeout and earn the first match point of the night. They took advantage of that opportunity, as a Hartwick attack error ended the match at 3-2 in Oneonta's favor.
Maloney, coming off Empire 8 Rookie of the Week honors, had another strong match, leading all players with 17 kills on .295 hitting and posting another double-double with 17 digs. She also had two service aces. Potts had eight kills on a very efficient .467 attack percentage, and Betelak had eight kills on .333 hitting. Gagnon was second on the team with 11 kills and led all Hawks with three aces. Each of Potts, Betelak, and Gagnon had two block assists, and Betelak and Potts had a solo block apiece as well. Boak had 18 digs to lead all comers, while Walsh contributed with 14 digs and six kills. Ericson had 34 assists, and was helped out in the setting department by Christina Mattocks (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta), who had 11 assists.
Culeton and Moulder each had 16 kills for the Red Dragons. Stieglitz was third with 12 kills, and had seven digs. Pelaccio had 17 digs and a pair of aces, but was outdone in the serving department by Fowler, who had five aces to go with her 49 assists.
The Hawks stay at home next time out, as they host King's College and SUNY Poly for the three-team Hartwick Tournament on Friday, September 13. The Hawks will take on King's at 4 p.m. and SUNY Poly at 8 p.m.
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