HIRAM, Ohio - February 14, 2023 - The Terriers battled to the end, saving 5 match points before losing in a marathon match to Saint Vincent at Price Gymnasium on Tuesday: 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 24-26.
The match lasted two and a half hours, with 120 kills, 106 assists and 114 digs between the two teams.
Kyle Martini finished with 23 kills, tied for the 2nd-most in a game in program history. Tom Supan had 28 kills against Penn State Behrend in 2021 and 23 kills against Trine in 2020.
Matthew Albano also closed in on history, with his 45 assists ranking second for a single game in program history (Andrew Diaz de Padilla, 46 vs Mount Union in 2022).
It snapped Hiram's 3-game win streak and moved its AMCC record to 3-1, which ranks 4th in the conference. Saint Vincent is now 3-2 in conference play and one spot behind the Terriers.
The highlights of the match came in the fifth set, when the two teams combined to save 11 match points before the fifth set ended in a 26-24 score. Martini, Connor Tilton and Jackson Deubner chipped in on the offensive end as the drama unfolded, with the defense all teaming together and making every last effort to give the team a chance to win.
The Bearcats won the final three points of the match to clinch the victory in front of a Price Gymnasium crowd that was on its feet for most of the fifth set.
Earlier in the fifth set, Hiram trailed 9-4 before rattling off 6 straight points to take a 10-9 lead. The team won 5 of those 6 points with Garrett Scheidegger serving.
Then came the back-and-forth nature of the set, with neither team winning more than two consecutive points for 30 straight points. The rallies extended longer and longer as the match continued.
Martini and Tilton recorded kills to help lift Hiram to a 24-23 lead before the Bearcats came back and claimed the AMCC affair.
Deubner finished with 12 kills and Tilton had 11. For Saint Vincent, Matthew Minkin had a game-high 25 kills.
Hiram will next travel to Geneva, Pennsylvania and take on Geneva on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
