CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –The Hobart volleyball team saw its four-match win streak come to a close as it dropped a crucial conference matchup to No. 16 MIT 3-0 this evening at MIT's Rockwell Cage. With the loss, the Statesmen fall to 10-10 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while the Engineers move to 16-5 on the season with a 4-1 mark in the UVC.
 
Hobart and MIT battled in the thrilling conference matchup, but the Engineers led in several statistical categories, securing the conference win. MIT put down 34 kills as a team (.328) compared to Hobart's 25 (.246) and held a 32-25 advantage in assists. The Engineers held an 8-5 edge in service aces and a 26-17 advantage in digs, while both the Statesmen and the Engineers combined for five blocks each.
 
Junior Noah DeLong led Hobart with nine kills on zero errors, hitting .529 in the loss. He added two blocks, two assists, two service aces and one dig through three sets. Classmate Daniel Sappia added seven kills (.353), six digs, one block and one ace, while junior Aiden Kemora chipped in four kills (.182), two digs, one assist and one service ace. First-year Harry Fromberg tallied three kills (.000), and two blocks in the loss.
 
MIT was led by Henry Garewal's 10 kills (.421), seven digs and one assist. Nate Toth chipped in eight kills (.385), four digs, one block, one ace and one assist in the win. Colin Zimmerman recorded a match-high 27 assists in the sweep and added two kills (.000), three service aces, three digs and three blocks for the Engineers.

MATCH MOMENTS:

• Hobart grabbed the early momentum and jumped out to an early lead before MIT chipped away and forced extra points in the opening set. The Statesmen combined for nine kills (.286) in set one but was matched by a 12 kill (.250) showing from the Engineers. The difference maker was from the service line as Hobart racked up 11 service errors and handed MIT a 29-27 win in set one.
• The Engineers continued to roll in the second set as they combined for 10 kills (.368) compared to the Statesmen's match-low seven kills (.167). MIT took the early momentum and never looked back as Hobart combined for nine errors in the second set. The Engineers would close out set two on top 25-15.
• The third set was a back-and-forth battle between Hobart and MIT with the Statesmen combining for nine kills (.300) compared to the Engineers' 12 (.375). The errors continued to plague Hobart in the final set as a hitting error followed by a service error would give MIT a 25-22 win to close out the conference sweep.

MATCH STATS:

• DeLong led the way with nine kills (.529), while Sappia chipped in seven (.353) in the loss. Kemora added four kills (.182), while Fromberg tallied three (.000) for the Statesmen.
• Junior Zack Farren and first-year's Charlie Dugan and Tor Boughal led Hobart from the setter position this evening. Farren tallied a team high nine assists and added three digs, while Dugan added five assists and Boughal chipped in four.
• Hobart combined for 17 digs as a team and was led by Sappia with six. Farren and junior libero Gavin Meador added three digs each, while Kemora and sophomore Alain Malcolm chipped in two digs each in the loss.
• The Statesmen served up five aces as a team and were led by DeLong with two. Sappia, Kemora and Malcolm added one ace each for Hobart.
• The Purple and Orange combined for five blocks as a team and were led by Malcolm with three. DeLong, Fromberg and sophomore Kian Kischke added two blocks each against the Engineers.

UP NEXT:
 
Hobart will be back in action Friday, March 20, when it travels to Boston, Massachusetts, for a nonconference matchup with No. 15 Wentworth. First serve between the Statesmen and the Leopards is set for 6 p.m.