UTICA, NY – The Buffalo State men's volleyball team dropped their first two matchups of the season against #14 Misericordia and #10 Hobart this afternoon at day one of the SUNY Poly Invite.
 
GAME ONE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: #14 Misericordia – 3, Buffalo State - 1
SET SCORES: (11-25, 28-26, 23-25, 17-25)
LOCATION: Wildcat Field House – Utica, NY
RECORDS: #14 Misericordia: 1-0 (0-0 MAC), Buffalo State: 0-1 (0-0 AMCC)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Gavin Wilczewski (Elma, NY/East Aurora) led the Bengals with 14 kills while Davian Serrano Colon (Naranjito, Puerto Rico) chipped in nine in his Buffalo State debut.
• Jackson Stang (Tonawanda, NY/Sweet Home_ dished out 30 assists while he and Alex Vega (Cambita Garabitos, Dominican Republic) matched each other with a team-high six digs.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars dominated much of the opening set, ending with 10-1 run to win the first set.
• After a back-and-forth affair in the second set, the Bengals were able to rally and score four of the final five points to win the set.
• Misericordia jumped out to an early 10-5 lead in the third set. Buffalo State gradually clawed back into the action; however, the Cougars were able to hang on and win the set.
• A pair of early runs in the fourth set led the Cougars to win the deciding set after three attack errors from the Bengals to close things out.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Jared Piontkowski led the Cougars with 18 kills.
• Gannon DeFrain contributed 37 assists in the win.

 
GAME TWO BASICS
FINAL SCORE: #10 Hobart – 3, Buffalo State – 0
SET SCORES: (24-26, 13-25, 22-25)
LOCATION: Wildcat Field House – Utica, NY
RECORDS: #10 Hobart: 2-0 (0-0 UVC), Buffalo State: 0-2 (0-0 AMCC)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Wilczewski and Colon combined for 13 kills in the effort.
• Stang had another 12 assists while Vega had nine digs.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set was a competitive back-and-forth affair before the Statemen scored five of the final six points to win the set.
• Hobart dominated the second set scoring each of the eight final points and 10 of the last 11.
• Buffalo State bounced-back late in the third set with a 6-1 run; however, Hobart was able to hang on down the stretch to earn the win.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Andrew Kim had 18 kills with a .533 attack percentage and four digs.

 
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will look to into the win column tomorrow as they will battle #17 Nazareth and host-SUNY Poly Wildcats to close out the team's opening weekend.