Box Score Sophomore Manny Fernandez (Tacoma, WA/Spanaway) posted a double-double and the Keuka College men's volleyball team defeated Hilbert College in four sets Wednesday night inside the Weed Physical Arts Center.
Fernandez recorded a team-high 10 kills and added 21 digs and six total blocks while freshman Tom Campbell (Penfield, NY/Penfield) added 9 digs, 7 kills and 8 total blocks for the Storm (6-15).
Fernandez posted an impressive .300 attack percentage after having only one error in 30 attempts. Freshman Josh Makin (Lethbridge, Alberta/Catholic Central) added 11 digs and eight kills and classmate Christopher Mooring (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) had 15 digs, 8 kills and 4 blocks for the Green and Gold, who dropped the first set before winning the next three.
Keuka fell 25-22 in the opening set, but stormed back to win 26-24, 25-20 and 28-26. In the fourth set, the Storm trailed 10-3 and 20-15 and survived a set point for Hilbert (5-17).
"We've been talking a lot about keeping our composure, staying together and not letting one or two mistakes turn into more errors. They did a good job at that tonight," said Ben Guiliano, the head coach of the first-year program.
"We had confidence we could make a play even after we made a mistake or two. Today we made those critical errors, but we came back from the critical errors with a big play and that's the difference. In volleyball, you will make mistakes all the time, but being able to come back from those is the key."
Sophomore Ryan Kelly (Clifton Springs, NY/Midlakes) had 37 assists, 8 digs and 4 blocks while junior Devin Lesch (San Diego, CA/El Cajon Valley) added eight blocks and five kills for Keuka.
Freshman Connor Hinman (Lethbridge, Alberta/Catholic Central) finished with 18 digs for the Storm, who won their third home match of the year.
"Earlier in the year, this is a match that we could have lost," Guiliano said. "We had some good swings by Manny Fernandez at the end, and Tom Campbell had a real nice swing down the line on a match point for Hilbert that scored the point for us. Then Tom served up the last two points for us. Our serve-receive was good and Connor Hinman has done a great job at libero after we moved him there. We're excited he's been able to fill that role, which is arguably one of the most important on the court."
Adam Weaver had 23 kills, 11 digs and 3 blocks for Hilbert.
Keuka hosts Thiel College for a 6 p.m. non-conference contest Friday on Senior Night.