Hawks take first set, but can’t get by Oakers

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 5/5/16

The Hendricken Hawks fell to the undefeated Coventry Oakers 3-1 Tuesday night at home despite taking the first set.

Jon Pincince had 10 kills for the Hawks while Anthony Witherstone added nine …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Hawks take first set, but can’t get by Oakers

Posted

The Hendricken Hawks fell to the undefeated Coventry Oakers 3-1 Tuesday night at home despite taking the first set.

Jon Pincince had 10 kills for the Hawks while Anthony Witherstone added nine kills.

“I thought we played pretty well tonight,” Hawks head coach Mike Harrington said. “I thought offensively we matched them pretty well and defensively we played pretty well. We just missed a few too many serves and didn’t pass their serves. They have some guys with some tough jump serves. We need to improve in that area to sort of catch up to them.”

For Coventry, Cam Roth led the way with 14 kills, four digs and four blocks and Zach Turner had 10 kills, six blocks and four aces.

Coventry’s Zach Turner had an attack block on Costantino to go up 4-2 early in the first set. Roth extended Coventry’s lead to 5-2 with a slam.

Steve Costantino set up Rob Barton for a spike on the next play to pull the Hawks to 5-3. Costantino then scored and made it 5-4. However, Costantino followed it with a service error and Coventry took a 6-4 lead. Coventry jumped out to an 8-4 advantage after Turner scored an ace. Then, Coventry’s Cody Mottshaw and Matt Buglio combined for a double block. Coventry went up as much as 12-5.

The Hawks cut it to 12-7 after a dig from Witherstone kept the volley alive and Nick Paolino finished off the play with a kill. Next, Alex DiLucia assisted to senior Kyle Murphy for a spike. The Hendricken rally continued when Pincince shot one past Noah Cloutier, cutting the deficit to 12-9.

With the Hawks trailing 14-10, Murphy served for a point, pulling Hendricken within three. After back-to-back errors by Coventry, Hendricken trailed by only a point. Following a Coventry timeout, Pincince and Costantino combined for a double block to even the score at 14. Then, DiLucia set up Costantino for a kill and Hendricken took a 15-14 lead. It was the Hawks’ first lead since they were up 1-0. Coventry’s Roth dropped one down in front to tie it at 15. After a Hawk error and penalty, Hendricken trailed 18-16. 

Trailing 19-17, Witherstone rattled home a spike to pull the Hawks within one. Costantino scored on the next serve to tie it at 19. After Coventry’s Matt Buglio committed an error, the Hawks led 20-19. Murphy extended the Hawk lead to 21-19 with a kill, forcing Coventry to call another timeout.

Soon after, Murphy and Barton put the Hawks up 23-20. Then, Witherstone blasted one into the campfire to extend the Hawks’ lead to 24-20. The final point of the set came on a Coventry penalty. The Hawks took the first set and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Hawks carried the momentum into the second set, where they went up 12-11 after DiLucia set up Pincince for a kill. Pincince’s next serve was returned by Coventry’s Matt Johnson, who threw it down with his left hand to tie the set at 12. Then, the Hawks broke the tie, going up 13-12 when Witherstone batted one down. However, a serving error from Hendricken’s Rich Nardella helped Coventry tie it at 13.

After a Hawk penalty on the next play, Coventry went up by one. Then, Johnson blocked Witherstone to extend the Coventry lead to two.

Coventry went up 22-17 with the help of two points from Matt Peloso. With Coventry at 24 points, it had game point. Unfortunately for it, Roth committed a service error. Then, on Coventry’s next return attempt, Roth was stuffed by Costantino. However, with Coventry up 24-19, the Hawks committed a costly penalty and Coventry took the second set 25-19 and tied the match at 1.

Hendricken fell behind 6-2 early in the third set as it looked to slash at the deficit.

Witherstone scored a kill to cut the lead in half at 6-3. Shortly after, DiLucia set up Murphy for the kill to pull the Hawks to 7-4. DiLucia cut it to 8-6 when he dumped one down in front. Next, DiLucia assisted to Pincince for the kill and pulled Hendricken within one. But, a big block from Buglio on Pincince on the next sequence put Coventry back up by two. Soon after, Costantino stonewalled Turner, and the Hawks trailed 11-9. However, after three Hendricken miscues and a point in front from Peloso, Coventry held a 15-10 advantage.

Behind points from Witherstone, Barton and Murphy, Hendricken rallied back to cut the deficit to 16-15. The Hawks then tied it at 16 when Murphy and Witherstone combined for a double block. Then, Hendricken went up 19-16 on two Coventry miscues and a dig by Nardella.

Next, Coventry’s Roth dumped in a point in front to cut it to one. Then, DiLucia assisted to Witherstone for the kill to put the Hawks up 20-18. After Witherstone served, Roth returned a monstrous spike and cut it to one. After a Hendricken error, the teams were locked at 20. Coventry then scored five straight points to win the set 25-20 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, Coventry continued to roll. The Oakers extended their lead to 10-4 when Mottshaw and Roth combined for a double block on Pincince. Soon after, Hendricken made it 13-7 after Pincince assisted to Barton for a point.

Later, DiLucia assisted to Costantino for the kill to make it 15-8. Next, Barton and Murphy combined for a double block and cut it to 15-9. After Coventry’s Greg DeNigris failed to push one over the net, Hendricken pulled within five. Next, the Hawks were able to cut it to three after a Coventry miscue.

However, after a couple Hendricken serving errors and a miscue on a return, Coventry extended its lead to 18-12. DiLucia set up Barton for a point and pulled the Hawks within five, but that’s as close as they would get.

After a Hendricken miscue and two points from Coventry, the Hawks saw themselves down 21-13. Witherstone deposited one in front to cut it to seven before Roth, scoring twice, put Coventry up 23-14. Murphy scored on an assist from DiLucia, making it 23-15. But, DiLucia had a service error the next possession, giving Coventry set point. Costantino tried to save the game with a big block on Turner, pulling the Hawks to 24-17. Nonetheless, Turner would get the last laugh when he scored the winning point of the match, giving Coventry a 25-17 win of the set and a 3-1 victory in the match.

Hendricken falls to 5-4 and Coventry improves to 9-0. The road ahead doesn’t get much easier for the Hawks, as they travel to La Salle for a meeting with the 8-1 Rams tonight at 6:30 p.m.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here