POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 2, 2019) – Six players reached double-figures in kills, including three from each squad, but Hunter College came out the victor with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Vassar College on Wednesday at Kenyon Hall Gym. The Hawks are now 7-9 on the season, while the Brewers slip to 4-12 overall.
Owning a 2-0 edge in the match, Vassar saw its advantage slip as Hunter battled back to gain its first set in the third. The Hawks opened with a 5-2 advantage, capitalizing on numerous errors and kills from Ariana Silva and Curran Murray. A 5-0 run opened up an 18-9 edge for the visitors, who used kills from Alexa Sayson and an ace from Silva down the stretch to pull the match to 2-1.
The fourth set was yet another battle as the two teams traded points with multiple ties through 9-9. The Brewers used a 4-0 run to grab a 15-11 edge, which included kills from
Sara Ehnstrom and
Jennifer Kerbs, and extended its edge to 21-16, but Hunter battled back.
With the Brewers owning a 24-21 advantage, Hunter got back-to-back kills from Kylie Hurst, coupled with an ace from Silva to tie it at 24-all. Another kill by Hurst, followed by an ace from Silva sealed the set victory to force the fifth and deciding set.
A 7-0 run helped the Brewers take a 9-6 lead in the fifth, powered by three aces from Kerbs, but a 4-0 run from Hunter tied things at 12-all, which included two aces from Murray. Vassar owned a 15-14 margin following a Hawks' error, but the visitors saw Kendra Moore nail a kill and a final pair of blocks from Justine Smith and Isabelle Lawrence give Hunter the 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-16, 26-24, 17-15) match win.
Hurst paced the Hawks with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 15 digs, two assists and two service aces. Moore had 11 kills with two block assists, while Lawrence added 10 kills with an ace and a block assist. Sunghee Cho notched a match-best 28 digs, while Justine Smith posted 32 assists.
For Vassar, both Ehnstrom and Kerbs recorded 11 kills. Ehnstrom also had 15 digs with two blocks assists and an ace, while Kerbs had three service aces, a block solo and two block assists.
Madison Wilson posted a match-best 36 assists, while
Claire Bialek recorded 25 digs.
Vassar returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Babson College to take on the host Beavers (2pm) and Coast Guard (4pm). Hunter is back on the court on Thursday with a 6pm match versus New York University.
