ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick's women's volleyball team fought back from an early deficit to claim a 3-1 (24-26, 25-15, 25-16, 25-21) victory over City College of New York and fell in its second match to a powerful New Paltz team, 3-0 (18-25, 11-25, 19-25) on Friday night at the Hartwick/Holiday Inn Tournament at Lambros Arena.
The Hawks fell behind 1-0 to the Beavers in their opening match. In the first game of the contest, 'Wick held an 11-4 lead before CCNY (8-15) stormed back to tie it at 11. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way. Hartwick was up one, 24-23, but two straight errors followed by a Leticia Marotti kill put the first game away for the Beavers.
The second game was a different story as Hartwick broke free from 4-all and built a 13-5 edge after a
Hannah Strom (Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) kill. The Hawks cruised the rest of the game as they never led by less than eight points.
The Hawks had a similar performance in game three as they generated an eight-point advantage, 15-7. The Beavers got within six three times but 'Wick ended the game on a 7-4 run to go up two games to one.
Game four was a close one but the Hawks gained a 14-10 lead and never trailed again. CCNY would trim the margin to 22-21, but three straight Hartwick points, including a pair of kills from junior
Dana Martin (Chester, NY/Burke Catholic) ended the match for the Hawks' eighth win of the season.
A balanced offensive attack saw nine different players register at least four kills. Martin had the team-high with eight. Strom, sophomore
Mary Beth DeCuyke (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown), and freshman
Ashlynn Mohan (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) each added six kills.
Senior
Christina Vitale (Port Jefferson Station, NY/St. John the Baptist) paced the defense with 16 digs. Freshman
Quincy Kinzel (Scotia, NY/Guilderland) achieved a team-best 23 assists and classmate
Hannah Armstrong (Lansing, NY/Lansing) contributed 19.
Against New Paltz (21-5), Hartwick was beaten in three games but hung with its opponent in the first and third games. In the first, New Paltz took a 9-8 edge and never trailed again. However, 'Wick managed to trim the deficit to three points four times in the late stages. A Kinzel kill made the score 21-18 but three consecutive errors would give the visitors game one.
New Paltz pulled away in game number two. New Paltz would build a 10-5 lead and held an advantage of five or more throughout.
In the third game, Hartwick led in the early going by a 5-2 score. New Paltz took a 12-11 lead after a Katy Braddon kill and never relinquished it. 'Wick stayed within three points until the advantage swelled to five, 22-17. The visitors would put the match away securing three of the final five points.
Strom had six of the Hawks' 17 kills in the match. Martin (8), Kinzel (7), and Vitale (7) combined for 22 of the Hawks' digs. Kinzel would also add 10 assists.
Hartwick continues play tomorrow against Lebanon Valley at 12 p.m. and Utica at 2 p.m.