GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College volleyball team collected two wins to close out the 2024 Hobart Volleyball Tournament as the Statesmen cruised to back-to-back 3-0 sweeps over St. Norbert College and Carlow University. Hobart moves to 5-1 on the season, while the Green Knights fall to 3-2 and the Celtics fall to 0-3 on the season.

First-year Daniel Sappia led the Statesmen through two matches, recording 24 kills on a .232 hitting percentage. He added five digs, five service aces, one assist and one solo block through six sets. Classmate Anthony Zontini put down 17 kills (.371) within the two matches, including a 12-kill performance against the Celtics, where he hit an impressive .500. Zontini added 14 digs, three service aces and one block on the day.

Graduate student Andrew Kim led Hobart in the first match of the day against St. Norbert, recording 16 kills with a .314 hitting percentage. He added eight digs, two blocks, two service aces and one assist in the sweep.

First-year setter Zack Farren ran the Statesmen offense in five of the six sets played today, tallying 60 assists. His average of 12 assists per set was matched with five blocks, four digs and one kill (.167). Classmate Noah DeLong took over the setting position for the final set of the day, recording 13 assists, seven digs, and five kills (.433).
  
MATCH MOMENTS:
 
Match 1 (St. Norbert):

• Hobart came out firing in set one, putting down 14 kills, hitting .242 as a team compared to St. Norbert's six kills and -.120 hitting percentage. Kim and Sappia combined for 11 kills as the Statesmen cruised to a 25-18 win to open up the match.
• Hobart continued its momentum into set two, keeping the Green Knights to a negative hitting percentage (-.071) for the second straight set. The Statesmen played strong at the net, recording five blocks as a team compared to St. Norbert's zero. Zontini led Hobart with four kills, hitting .444 to help the Statesmen to a convincing 25-15 win in set two.
• The third set was the most competitive set of the match with both teams putting down double-digit kills. The Statesmen and Green Knights saw six tie scores and three lead changes before Hobart grabbed the late momentum behind six kills from Kim to complete the sweep with a 25-20 win in the final set.

Match stats:

• Kim led the Statesmen with 16 kills, hitting .314 in the sweep. Sappia chipped in 12 kills (.308), while first-year Nate Magni (.444) and Zontini (.235) added five kills each.
• Farren recorded 37 assists in the sweep and added four blocks, three digs and one kill (.167) for Hobart.
• The Statesmen served up six aces compared to the Green Knights' one. Kim and Zontini led the team with two each.
• Magni and first-year Grayson Getz each recorded a season-high five blocks as Hobart registered 11 blocks compared to St. Norbert's four.
• Kim, Zontini and first-year libero Gavin Meador tallied eight digs each in the sweep.

Match 2 (Carlow):

• Hobart continued its momentum into the second match of the day, hitting .440 as a team with 14 kills compared to Carlow's .048 hitting percentage and five kills. Zontini (.429) and Getz (.750) came out firing to open the match combining for seven kills as the Statesmen grabbed a dominating 25-16 win in the opening set.
• The Statesmen continued to impress in the second set, combining for 13 kills (.286). Hobart added six service aces as a team compared to the Celtics zero as Sappia and first-year Nathan Deller each recorded three. Hobart's efficient scoring proved to be too much for Carlow as the Statesmen extended their lead to 2-0 with a 25-21 win in set two.
• The Celtics fought back in the final set, forcing 11 tie scores and two lead changes with the Statesmen. Getz, Zontini and Sappia put down four kills each in the final set to sneak away with a 26-24 win to complete the sweep for Hobart.

Match stats:

• Zontini (.500) and Sappia (.167) led the match with 12 kills each. Getz followed with a season-high eight kills (.545) out of the middle.
• Farren recorded 23 assists through two sets and added one block and one dig. DeLong finished the match in the setting position and recorded 13 assists, seven digs and five kills (.300).
• Hobart continued to show strong from the service line, serving up 11 aces in the sweep. Sappia led the team with a career-high five and was followed by Deller with four, which was also his career high.
• DeLong recorded a match-high seven digs, while Zontini chipped in six and Getz added four.

COACHES CORNER:
 
"Going 3-0 on our opening home weekend is special," said Head Coach Steve England. "I am so proud of the progress this team has made in such a short period of time. It is a tribute to their hard work and dedication to the team. I am looking forward to seeing our growth as the season continues."

UP NEXT:
 
Hobart will be back in action Jan. 26-27, when it heads to Elmira, New York, to take on Thiel College, Drew University and Kean University. The Statesmen open the action-packed weekend with a matchup with Thiel on Friday at 5 p.m.