Men’s Volleyball Stifled By Hilbert, Keuka

AURORA, N.Y. – The Wells College men's volleyball team dropped both games in a tri-match Saturday afternoon at the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Athletic Wing. With a 3-1 loss against the Hawks of Hilbert College and a 3-0 blanking of the Express by the Storm of Keuka College, the Express fall to 8-17 overall on the season. Hilbert improves to 6-18 overall on the season while the Storm, who are 2-0 against the Express this season, improve to 7-16 overall in their first year as a varsity program.

Against the Hawks, the Express fell via set scores of 24-26, 18-25, 25-23 and 22-25. With the score tied 22-22 in the first set following a setting error by David Mellerski, the Express made two crucial attack errors that allowed the visiting Hawks to cruise to a 26-24 victory. In the fourth and decisive set following a 25-23 third set victory, the Express and Hilbert were tied at 21-21. A service ace by Hilbert preceded a Frederick Sickau kill to place the the visitors ahead by two. A John Farruggia (Mt. Markham, N.Y.) kill was followed by his own service error before a Wells attack error ended any chance of a comeback.

Cumulatively, the Express tied a program record against Hilbert, hammering home 44 kills to equal their total recorded against Medgar Evers on Mar. 9, 2012. Their 14 total blocks set a program record in that category as sophomore Paul Hernon (New Hartford, N.Y.) posted eight block assists while freshman Derek Nipps (Turnersville, N.J.) contributed a solo block and six block assists. Freshman J.J. Podczasy (Macungie, Pa.) recorded 17 kills for the Express, tying him for second place all-time in single game history. His .278 hitting percentage led the Express in that category.

For Hilbert, Scott Ross led the way with 11 kills while Mellerski assisted 35 of his team's 44 kills. Defensively, Adam Clabo chipped in nine digs to lead the team – cumulatively, the Hawks recorded 45 digs defensively.

Against Keuka, the Express fell in three sets via scores of 23-25, 21-25 and 18-25. The Express trailed by a 24-23 margin following a Josh Makin service error, but a kill by Ryan Kelly prevented any further comeback by the hosts. A Farruggia kill with the score set at 20-20 in the second set also set the Express up for a possible win, but Keuka set the Express down by a 5-1 margin in the waning sets to again capture the set victory. In the third set, the Storm led by as much as 11 and were able to hold the Express off for the three set win.

Farruggia recorded nine kills alongside four errors for a team-best .179 hitting percentage. Nipps assisted 13 kills while both junior C.J. Bayly (Waymart, Pa.) and libero Tyler Wiley (York, Pa.) each posted 11 digs apiece. For Keuka, Tom Campbell hammered home a team-high seven kills while Kelly assisted 25 of his team's 33 kills. Defensively, Connor Hinman led Keuka with nine digs.

The Express return conclude their regular season this Saturday, Apr. 6 as they face-off against the Chargers of Lancaster Bible College and the Wildcats of SUNY Institute of Technology in Wells' final two North Eastern Athletic Conference tilts of the season. The tri-match begins at 4:00 p.m. on the campus of SUNYIT. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Wells College athletic department by "liking" us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WellsExpress) and subscribing to our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/WellsExpress).