UTICA, N.Y. - The SUNY Poly men's volleyball team hosted a tri-match against Hilbert at Rutgers-Newark on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats won the first match against Hilbert 3-1, before falling in the second match against Rutgers-Newark 3-1. With the split, the Wildcats move to 2-5 on the season. 

POLY VS HILBERT:

In the first match, the Wildcats jumped out to a hot start, winning comfortably in the first set 25-16. After jumping out to an early lead, the Wildcats held off any attempts of a comeback from the Hawks. In the second set, after again jumping out to an early lead, the Hawks made it exciting towards the end, when they cut the Wildcats' lead to 23-18, before the Wildcats won 2 of the next 3 points to win the set 25-19. The Hawks put together a strong third set, going on a run in the middle of the set to win the set by 6 points, 25-19. The Wildcats were unfazed by losing the third set, however, and would again have a strong performance in the last set, winning 25-20 to hold on for the victory. Jason Aubrey, James Mion, Jordan Weird, and Peter Gottler all had strong performances up front, all racking up multiple kills. Joshua Slater recorded 43 assists to help orchestrate the Wildcats offense.

POLY VS RUTGERS NEWARK:

In the second match of the day, the Wildcats fell behind early to the Scarlet Raiders and were unable to overcome the deficit as they dropped the first set 25-16. The Wildcats would respond in the second set, however, getting out to an early 6-1 lead and maintaining the lead throughout the set. The Scarlet Raiders had multiple service errors in the second set that the Wildcats would use to their advantage, winning the set 25-18 to tie the match 1-1. In the third and fourth sets, however, the Scarlet Raiders were able to clean up mistakes and would win the final two sets 25-19, and 25-20. Joshua Slater had another strong performance, having multiple kills and leading the team in assists.

UP NEXT: 

The Wildcats head to Wells College on Tuesday, January 30th for a 6:00 PM start.