ROCHESTER, NY – It was not the Hawks' day on Friday night, as the Hartwick volleyball team's wonderful season came to a close in the Empire 8 Semifinals in St. John Fisher's Manning and Napier Gymnasium. The third-seeded Golden Flyers (14-10) took out the second-seeded Hawks in four sets (22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25), advancing to the Empire 8 Championship match against top seed St. John Fisher, tomorrow at 2 p.m. Hartwick finishes the best season in school history at 18-4, good for a program-best .818 winning percentage.
It was a dream start for the Hawks, as they took the first four points of the match via an opening Staecia Silofau (Kapolei, HI/Maryknoll) kill, a subsequent Silofau ace, and back-to-back kills from Myla Dobson (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) and Dell Potts (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane). The Golden Flyers were undeterred, eventually knotting the set up at five-all. The teams would find themselves tied at nine when Nazareth began to separate themselves a little, winning four consecutive points. Hartwick tied the set up again at 14 before Nazareth again claimed four points in a row, and despite a late run to get the score to 24-22, the Golden Flyers picked up the first set win on a Kaylee Kelly kill.
Set two saw Nazareth claim the first four points this time, before Hartwick broke the run. They would not give it up so easily, consistently keeping a three-to-six-point advantage until 'Wick narrowed their deficit to two at 16-14, forcing a Golden Flyer timeout. 'Wick kept it, as the scoreboard would read 16-15 and 17-16 in favor of Nazareth, but the Golden Flyers took the next three points on back-to-back big-time Eva Lyko kills followed by a Kelly ace. Hartwick coach Jim Clar then called a timeout to settle his squad down. It did not quite have the intended effect, at least on the scoreboard, as Nazareth would again win the set 25-22.
Set three started out with some back-and-forth runs, as the Golden Flyers' 4-1 lead quickly turned into a 7-4 deficit. Nazareth would score three consecutive points to tie the game at seven-all, however, before 'Wick matched that run and took a 10-7 lead. The game of runs continued as four Golden Flyer points gave them a brief lead before Hartwick tied the set again, this time at 11. After going down 12-11, the Hawks rallied to grab a 15-12 advantage, thanks in part to Betelak and Kaileigh Brandow (Manorville, NY/Eastport South Manor) kills, but slowly gave that up before Clar called a timeout at 18 a side. That seemed to do the trick, as 'Wick picked up the next four points out of the break before eventually winning by four after Silofau and Betelak blocked a Kelly attack.
The fourth set began evenly, with the scoreboard reading 6-6 after 12 points. A bit later on, the Hawks took a brief 10-8 lead before the Golden Flyers ran off four consecutive points. 'Wick took the next point, but Nazareth claimed the four after that, leading to a Hartwick timeout with the score 15-11 after a Kelly ace. Nazareth kept up the intensity after the pause, winning four of the next five rallies and forcing another Hawks timeout, at 19-12. That was all she wrote for the evening, as despite a late Hartwick push the Golden Flyers claimed the 25-19 fourth set win.
Dobson led all players with 16 kills in her final collegiate game, also pitching in a match-high (tied with classmate Betelak) six blocks. Maloney picked up a double-double, with 10 kills and 17 digs. Kayley Ericson (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy) and Braelyn Hornick (Candor, NY/Candor) did the setting for 'Wick, as Ericson had 23 assists and Hornick had 12.
The Hawks will regroup over the offseason and look to push for more come next August.
Make sure to catch the latest news on all your favorite Hartwick Hawks teams by following @HawkTalk on Twitter, @hartwickhawks on Instagram, and by liking 'Hartwick Hawks' on Facebook.
