HAMBURG, NY (Feb. 25)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team earned a 3-1 win against Hilbert in Saint Vincent's first AMCC conference game of the season.
 
Saint Vincent (8-6, 1-0 AMCC) defeated the Hawks (4-10, 0-1 AMCC) in the first two sets by scores of 25-13 and 25-18. Hilbert answered with a 25-19 win in the third set, before the Bearcats took the fourth set 25-15.
 
The Bearcats were led by Matthew Minkin who recorded 12 kills, two assists, and four digs. Shawn McSwiggen also recorded 12 kills for Saint Vincent, while Zebadiah Wyant recorded double digits kills as well with 11.
 
Rocco Marino added five kills, while Zach Wyant tallied a game-high 30 assists, while also scooping up ten digs. Matthew Klasnic also recorded double-digit digs with 12 for Saint Vincent. McSwiggen also tallied six digs as well.
 
After trading the first couple of points in the opening set, it was all Bearcats. SVC took a 5-3 lead in the first set after a service ace from McSwiggen, followed by a kill from Zach Wyant. The teams once again traded the next few points, with the Bearcats still leading by two (11-9).
 
The Bearcats went on a big run, this one a 14-4 run to close the set out (25-13), ending the set on a kill from Minkin to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Hilbert took the first advantage of the second set as the Hawks scored the first five points to take a 5-0 lead. Saint Vincent answered with a 7-2 run to tie the match up at 7-7. Over the run, the Bearcats had two aces, three kills, and two errors by Hilbert to tie the match up.
 
The teams traded back-and-forth once again over the next few points as the set was tied 15-15. Saint Vincent once again used a big run, this one a 9-2 run to take a 24-17 lead. After a Hilbert point, the Bearcats closed the set out on a kill by Zeb Wyant to win the second set (25-18), taking a 2-0 lead.
 
The Hawks bounced back in the third set to avoid the sweep. Over the first 11 points of the set, the teams traded back-and-forth as the set was tied 11-11. From that point on in the set, it was all Hilbert as the Hawks went on an 8-4 run to take a 19-15 lead.
 
Saint Vincent scored the next three points in the set on kills by both Zeb and Zach Wyant as well as an error from the Hawks to cut the Hilbert lead to 19-18. Hilbert answered, closing the set out with a 6-1 run to win the third set (25-19), cutting the SVC lead to 2-1 in the match.
 
Hilbert continued their momentum into the early portions of the fourth set as the Hawks opened up to a 4-1 lead. The Bearcats battled back with a 7-4 run to tie the set at 8-8 and the set remained tied at 9-9.
 
On the next volley, McSwiggen recorded a kill for the Bearcats to give them a 10-9 lead and they never looked back. Saint Vincent went on a 8-2 run to take a 18-11 lead, looking to end the match in four sets.
 
SVC closed the match out scoring seven of the final 11 points to win the fourth set (25-15), ending the set on a kill from Minkin to win the match 3-1.
 
As a team, the Bearcats recorded 44 kills, 36 assists, and 41 digs, while also recording 13 service aces. Saint Vincent also had a .241 hitting percentage in the win as well. Hilbert on the other hand, recorded a .110 hitting percentage.
 
Saint Vincent returns to action on Wednesday, February 28, when they play host to Hiram in another AMCC contest. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center on Wednesday.