GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College volleyball team opened the Statesmen Volleyball Classic with wins over No.16 Misericordia, 3-0, and No.18 Baldwin Wallace, 3-1 this afternoon. The two wins were Hobart's first wins over nationally ranked opponents in program history. The Statesmen move to 10-3 on the season and will take on No.1 Wentworth tomorrow to close out the weekend's action.

Graduate student Andrew Kim led Hobart with 45 kills (.405) through two matches, including a 27 kill (.455) and 13 dig performance against the Yellow Jackets. He added 16 digs, five blocks, two assists and one service ace in the wins.

First-year Daniel Sappia added 18 kills (.204), 10 digs, five service aces, two assists and one block in the wins, while classmate Aiden Kemora chipped in 17 kills (.256), eight digs and two blocks for the Statesmen. First-year setter Zack Farren ran the Hobart offense and tallied 66 assists, nine digs, two kills (.200) and one block through two matches.

MATCH MOMENTS:
 
Match 1 (Misericordia):

• Hobart came out firing in the opening set, putting down 13 kills (.226) compared to Misericordia's nine (.103). Kim tallied six kills while first-year Nate Magni chipped in three service aces to lead the Statesmen to a 25-22 win in set one.
• Set two saw six tie scores and one lead change between Hobart and Misericordia. Despite the Cougars posting four blocks to the Statesmen's zero, Hobart found a way to put down 13 kills (.286) as a team to extend its lead to 2-0 with a 25-20 win in the second.
• The back-and-forth action continued in set three with six tie scores and four lead changes between the two sides. The Statesmen kept the Cougars in single digit kills for the third-straight set as Misericordia only tallied eight (.091) compared to Hobart's 12 (.321). Kim and Sappia combined for nine kills to lead the Statesmen to their first win over a nationally ranked opponent in program history.

Match stats:

• Kim led the Statesmen with 18 kills (.350), while Kemora chipped in nine (.294). Sappia rounded out the top three hitters for Hobart with seven kills (.211) in the win.
• Farren tallied 26 assists in the sweep of the Cougars. He added one dig, one block and one kill (.500) in the win.
• First-year libero Gavin Meador led Hobart's defense with 10 digs. Classmate Noah DeLong added four digs while Kim and Sappia chipped in three each.
• The Statesmen continued to impress from the service line, recording eight aces as a team. Magni led the team with four while Sappia recorded three.

Match 2 (Baldwin Wallace):

• The Statesmen continued their momentum into the second match of the day, combining for 14 kills (.250) compared to the Yellow Jacket's eight (.160) in the opening set. Kim went off for seven kills (.545) to deliver Hobart a 25-22 win to open the match.
• Hobart grabbed an early lead in the second and maintained that lead through the entire set. Kim recorded six kills on nine swings (.556) as the Statesmen extended their lead to 2-0 with a convincing 25-21 win in the second.
• Baldwin Wallace responded with its most efficient effort in the must-win third set, putting down 11 kills (.241) as a team. The two sides fought back-and-forth with eight tie scores and two lead changes down the stretch. Owen Huynh led the Yellow Jackets with four kills (.083) as Baldwin Wallace grabbed a 25-23 win to keep its hopes alive.
• Hobart grabbed the momentum back in the fourth, tallying 12 kills (.458) as a team with only one error compared to the Yellow Jacket's eight kills (.042) and seven errors. The Statesmen's clean play propelled Hobart to a dominating 25-15 win in set four to grab its second-straight win over a ranked opponent.  

Match stats:

• Kim exploded for 27 kills through four sets, hitting an impressive .455. Sappia added 11 kills (.200) from the outside, while Kemora chipped in eight kills (.227) from the right side.
• Farren impressed in the setter position, tallying 40 assists, eight digs, and one kill in the win over the Yellow Jackets.
• Kim recorded a team-leading 13 digs for his first double-double of the season. Farren added eight, while Sappia chipped in seven and Magni added six.
• Hobart recorded eight blocks as a team and were led by Magni with three. Kim chipped in two while Sappia, Kemora and first-year Grayson Getz added one each.

COACHES CORNER:
 
"It was exciting to be back playing in Bristol gym in front of our fans," said Head Coach Steve England. "The team responded well from our two losses a week ago. It is even more special to get our first two nationally ranked wins on top of it. We are fired up to see what we can do against the No. 1 team in the country tomorrow. I'm very proud of this team's character."

UP NEXT:
 
Hobart will be back in action tomorrow as it takes on top-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology (9-0) to close out the Statesmen Volleyball Classic. First serve between the Statesmen and the Leopards is set for 3 p.m. in Bristol Gymnasium.