BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Hobart College volleyball team suffered two losses at the Bengal Invitational this afternoon held on the campus of Buffalo State. The Statesmen fell 3-1 to UC Santa Cruz and were swept by No. 5 St. John Fisher to fall to 8-3 on the season. The Banana Slugs improve to 5-7 while the Cardinals move to 11-1 overall.
 
Graduate student Andrew Kim led Hobart with 28 kills through two matches. He added seven digs, five service aces and two blocks on the day. First-year Daniel Sappia added 24 kills, 15 digs, one block and one ace through two matches.
 
First-year Aiden Kemora had an impressive afternoon, tallying 23 kills through two matches, including a career-high 12 kill performance against the Banana Slugs. He added eight digs, two service aces and one block. First-year setter Zack Farren ran Hobart's offense and combined for 64 assists, four digs and one block.

MATCH MOMENTS:
 
Match 1 (UC Santa Cruz):

• Hobart came out swinging in the opening set, putting down 16 kills (.256) as a team compared to UC Santa Cruz's 13 (.333). The Banana Slugs used a four-point run to grab the late momentum of the set and closed out on top 25-23.
• UC Santa Cruz produced its best offensive performance of the match in the second set, firing off 14 kills on zero errors (.737) to grab a convincing 25-15 win in set two.
• In a must-win set, Hobart responded with its most efficient set, putting down 20 kills (.405) as a team. The two teams traded points from 20-20 on, pushing the set to extra points resulting in a 32-30 win for the Statesmen.
• The Banana Slugs responded well in the fourth with 15 kills (.367) while allowing Hobart to a match-low six (.067). UC Santa Cruz's efficiency led to a dominating 25-12 win in the final set, to close out the match on top 3-1.

Match stats:

• Kim led the Statesmen through four sets, putting down 18 kills (.302). Sappia followed closely behind with 16 kills (.268) while Kemora added 13 (.258).
• Farren tallied 35 assists, two digs and one block in the loss. Classmate Noah DeLong added eight assists, two blocks and one service ace in the loss.
• First-year libero Gavin Meador recorded a team-leading 16 digs for Hobart. Sappia added nine while Kim chipped in five.
• First-year Nate Magni made his presence known at the net with four blocks out of the middle.

Match 2 (St. John Fisher):

• The Cardinals put 14 kills (.333) compared to the Statesmen's 10 (.121) in the opening set. St. John Fisher opened the match with a six-point run which proved too much for Hobart to recover from as the Cardinals closed out set one on top, 25-18.
• Hobart struggled to find a rhythm in the second set, hitting zero percent on eight kills and eight errors. Fisher's nine kills (.467) was enough as their clean play delivered a 25-17 win to extend the lead to 2-0.
• The Statesmen fought back in the third, putting down 15 kills (.179) compared to the Cardinals' 11 (.37). St. John Fisher found several four-point runs to grab the late lead. The Cardinals held onto their lead despite a late push from Hobart, closing out the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third.

Match stats:

• Kim (.065) and Kemora (.200) led the Statesmen with 10 kills each in the second match of the day. Sappia chipped in eight kills (.043) in the loss.
• Meador led Hobart's defense with seven digs, while Sappia chipped in six. Kemora added four digs for the Statesmen.
• Kim dominated from the service line, recording four service aces. Kemora added one ace for Hobart.

UP NEXT:
 
Hobart will be back in action next weekend, Feb. 9-10, when it hosts the Statesmen Volleyball Classic. The Statesmen will host No. 1 Wentworth Institute of Technology, No. 15 Misericordia University and No. 20 Baldwin Wallace through the two-day invitational. Action will start with a matchup with Hobart and Misericordia on Friday, at 3 p.m. in Bristol Gymnasium.