United Volleyball Conference Hobart Athletic Communications

Hobart falls to Pair of nationally-ranked opponents at Baldwin Wallace Tournament

BEREA, OHIO—The Hobart volleyball team dropped back-to-back top-10 matchups this afternoon at the Baldwin Wallace Invitational. The Statesmen fell 3-0 to No. 10 Messiah before falling in four-sets to No. 9 Baldwin Wallace this evening. With the results, Hobart now sits at 6-8 on the season.
 
First-year Harry Fromberg led the Statesmen with 18 kills (.111) through seven sets. He added four assists and three digs through two matches. Junior Noah DeLong chipped in 12 kills (.152), three blocks, three digs and one service ace, while classmate Aiden Kemora added 10 kills (.147), six digs and two blocks. First-year Nicholas Humphries tallied nine kills (.400) and six blocks through five sets, while sophomore Kian Kischke added six kills (.000), four digs, three aces and two blocks out of the middle.
 
First-year Charlie Dugan and junior Zack Farren led Hobart from the setter position through two matches. Dugan tallied 28 assists, five digs and one kill, while Farren added 20 assists and five digs. Defensively, the Statesmen were led by junior libero Daniel Sappia with 10 digs. He added three kills and one block as well on the afternoon.

MATCH MOMENTS:
 
Match 1 (Messiah):
  • The Falcons came out hot in the opening set, putting down 11 kills (.421) and holding the Statesmen to five kills (0.0). Hobart racked up five hitting errors and found themselves out of system often as Messiah took a 25-13 win in set one.
  • Messiah continued on its momentum into set two, combining for eight kills as a team (0.05) and holding Hobart to a match-low four kills (-.091) and six hitting errors. A kill from Todd Snyder and a Statesmen hitting error would hand Messiah a 25-16 set two win.
  • Hobart responded well in the must-win third set, combining for 10 kills (.154) as a team but was matched by an efficient Falcon side that combined for 12 kills (.214) in the final set. Again, the errors plagued the Statesmen as they combined for six hitting errors in the third set. Despite a late comeback by Hobart, Messiah closed out the sweep with a 25-23 win in set three thanks to a kill from Jake Eby.
Match stats:
  • Fromberg led the Statesmen in match one with six kills (.059). DeLong chipped in four kills (.667), while Sappia (-.111) and Kemora (-.059) added three kills each in the loss.
  • Dugan and Farren ran Hobart's offense from the setter position, tallying nine and six assists each, respectively. The duo combined for three digs and a kill as well.
  • The Statesmen combined for 17 digs as a team and were led by Sappia, Kemora and Kischke with three digs each. Farren and first-year Ben Welsh added two digs each in the setback.
  • Hobart combined for five blocks as a team and were led by Welsh with three. DeLong and Kischke added two blocks each through three sets.
Match 2 (Baldwin Wallace):
  • Baldwin Wallace impressed in the opening set, putting down 12 kills (.556) on only two errors. Hobart combined for 10 kills (.185) but racked up five hitting errors. The Yellow Jackets closed the opening set on a 5-0 scoring run to secure a 25-15 win.
  • The Yellow Jackets continued on its momentum in set two, producing an efficient attack that tallied 13 kills (.500) and only three errors. The Statesmen struggled to find their rhythm in the second set as they put down a match-low six kills (.133), handing Baldwin Wallace a 25-18 win in set two.
  • Hobart responded well in the must-win third set, putting down 11 kills (.161). Baldwin Wallace combined for 13 kills (.200) but were forced into a match-high seven hitting errors in the third set. The Statesmen used back-to-back kills from Fromberg and a service ace from Kischke to close out set three on top, 26-24.
  • The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and didn't look back. Baldwin Wallace combined for 11 kills (.292) and took the early control of the set before Hobart stormed back with 16 kills (.258) of their own to tie the game at 24-24. A Statesmen service error followed by a hitting error would hand the Yellow Jackets a 26-24 win in set four to close out the match in favor of the hosts, 3-1.
Match stats:
  • Fromberg once again led the Statesmen with 12 kills (.143) in the loss. DeLong (.037) and Humphries (.500) added eight kills each, while Kemora chipped in seven kills (.353) for Hobart.
  • Dugan and Farren ran the offense from the setter position, tallying 19 and 14 assists each, respectively. The duo combined for seven digs and one service ace in the loss.
  • The Statesmen combined for 24 digs as a team and were led by Sappia with seven. Dugan chipped in four digs, while Farren, DeLong and Kemora all recorded three digs each.
  • Hobart tallied seven blocks in the setback and was led by Humphries and Welsh with five blocks each. DeLong and Kemora added one block each in the loss.
UP NEXT:
 
Hobart will be back in action Friday, Feb. 20, when it opens UVC play at Vassar. Action between the Statesmen and the Brewers is set for 6 p.m. at Kenyon Hall.