Hawks roll to sweep of Pats

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 5/19/16

The Hendricken Hawks swept the Pilgrim Patriots, 3-0, Tuesday night at Hendricken.

“Pilgrim’s got a good team there,” Hendricken head coach Mike Harrington said. “So, for us to come out …

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Hawks roll to sweep of Pats

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The Hendricken Hawks swept the Pilgrim Patriots, 3-0, Tuesday night at Hendricken.

“Pilgrim’s got a good team there,” Hendricken head coach Mike Harrington said. “So, for us to come out and sweep it probably means we played pretty well, which I think we did.”

Pilgrim went up 1-0 to start things when Zach Johnson and Jacob O’Donnell stuffed Hendricken’s Jon Pincince. But, Hendricken would tie it at 1 when Alex DiLucia set up Steve Costantino for the kill. Then, Rob Barton put one down in front for Hendricken. After a shot in the net by DiLucia and a return error by Barton, Johnson put Pilgrim up 4-2.

After Jamal Martey put one out of play, Hendricken’s Anthony Witherstone came up with a big slam to tie the set at 4.

The Hawks jumped out to a 6-4 lead after a double block from Costantino and Withertone, followed by a Witherstone spike. Then, DiLucia assisted to Barton for the kill and an 11-7 Hendricken advantage. After back-to-back aces from Hendricken’s Kyle Murphy, the Hawks led 14-8. Pilgrim cut it to 15-11 when O’Donnell blocked Pincince. Next, Martey rattled in a spike for Pilgrim to cut it to 18-14. A spike from Murphy put Hendricken up 22-18. Murphy then came up with a block and a slam to increase the Hawk lead to 24-18. After a Pilgrim spike by Ethan Schneider pulled it to 24-20, Rich Nardella successfully served for the winning point, giving Hendricken a 25-20 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set, DiLucia set up Barton for a 2-0 Hendricken lead. Hendricken raced out to a 7-0 lead to start the set. The Hawks went up 12-5 when Murphy put it off of Martey and out of play. Then, Martey came up with a monster spike for Pilgrim, pulling his squad to 13-7. After a monster kill from Pincince, the Hawks led 14-8. After a spike from Witherstone, Hendricken led 17-11. Next, DiLucia to Matt Russell put Hendricken up 21-11. Pilgrim’s Ty Weldon-Martin and Johnson combined for a double block on Tim Picard to pull Pilgrim within 23-14. However, an assist from Russell to Pincince for a kill once again gave Hendricken game point at 24-15. Hendricken obtained the winning point on a serve from Pilgrim’s Jeremy Plante that was returned by DiLucia, who set up Costantino for the kill and a 25-16 second set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set, Costantino had an early kill to put Hendricken up 1-0. Next, Pilgrim’s Martey tied it at 1. Soon after, Schneider came up with a block on Barton to tie the set at 5. Next, Pincince tied the set at 6. Down three points, Hendricken rallied back to tie it at 13 when Picard found Murphy. Next, Murphy gave the Hawks a 15-13 lead.

Pilgrim battled and Martey gave the Pats a 16-15 edge before Hendricken’s Murphy put the Hawks up 17-16. Then, Pilgrim’s Dan Peladeau tied the set at 17.

Next, Schneider served an ace to put Pilgrim up 19-17. With Pilgrim up 21-17, Hendricken rallied back. Costantino scored a point before DiLucia scored another. Then, Martey laid down a spike from Peladeau to put Pilgrim up 22-20. Back-to-back slams from Pincince and Witherstone tied it at 22 for Hendricken. The teams battled and Witherstone and Martey scored for each team, tying it at 23. Next, Witherstone laid down a spike for a 24-23 Hawk lead. Once again, Martey scored to keep Pilgrim in it and tied the set at 24. However, up 25-24, Witherstone came through with the kill to give the Hawks a 26-24 set win while earning a 3-0 win of the match.

“Anthony’s clutch,” Harrington said. “He’s a great player. With the game on the line, I like having him out there.”

While happy with the victory, Harrington was also thrilled with the clean play of his team.

“For us and most teams, it’s just about being consistent and eliminating some of the unforced errors,” Harrington said. “We had some tonight, but overall I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping the ball in play and keeping the pressure on Pilgrim.”

Pilgrim head coach Mike McGiveron was happy with his team’s effort in the match. He said that his team was without setter Anthony Stevens.  

“It seems like every week someone’s down with an injury or sick,” McGiveron said. “We’ve been trying. I’m still missing one of my guys today. But, we’re doing all right. This is a pretty good team and we put up a pretty good fight. It’s encouraging.”

 

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