ONEONTA, N.Y. - Junior Annalisa Alicea (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) highlighted the night with a career-high seven aces, but the Oneonta women's volleyball team lost 3-2 to Hartwick on Friday in Lambros Arena. The Red Dragons (2-9) battled to a 27-25 first-set victory before the Hawks (4-5) won 25-19 and 25-23 in the following two sets. Oneonta responded with a 25-18 win in the fourth but eventually fell 15-12 in the final set.

With the first set tied 2-2, Oneonta's Colleen McCabe (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) sent in a kill to begin a 5-0 run that was finished with two kills from senior Ashanti Davis (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson). Hartwick fought back to tie again three more times before Oneonta went on a 6-0 span comprised of two sophomore Katie Spano (Dryden, NY/Dryden) kills and two aces from sophomore Anna Moller (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach Senior High School). 

The Red Dragons continued to hold the lead, and two straight kills by Davis pushed the lead to 20-14. Hartwick responded with a 7-0 to take its first lead, with Shelby Swartz adding two kills. Sabrina Squicciarini (Manorville, NY/St. Anthony's) capped off a 3-0 Oneonta run with a kill to put the Red Dragons up 24-22. The Hawks tied two more times before a Spano kill made it 26-25. Moller slipped in her third ace of the set to give the Red Dragons the set victory. 

Hartwick went on to win the following two sets. Oneonta took a 7-2 lead in the second with aces from Alicea and Layla Alt (Shullsburg, WI/Shullsburg). A Hawks' error and a service ace from Sophia Gerace (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River) pushed the advantage to 11-5. Hartwick then used a 9-1 span to take a two-point lead. The teams traded points before a Keira Welsh (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford High School) ace gave the Red Dragons a 17-16 lead. The Hawks went on to take eight of the following nine points before Gianna May (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville) knocked in a kill to cut the lead to 23-19. Hartwick won the final two points and finished it with an ace from Vanessa Seymour. 

After falling behind 14-9 in the third set, Oneonta used a May kill, Davis block, and a Moller ace to cut the lead to two. The Red Dragons kept close, but the Hawks pulled away with a 5-1 span to go ahead 22-16. Two kills from May and another Gerace ace brought the set within two, and then Davis made it 24-23 following a kill and block. A Red Dragons' error made it 2-1 in favor of the Hawks. 

It was another tight set in the fourth, and the Hawks tied 17-17 following a Oneonta error. Davis blocked a Niah Reeves attack to retake the lead as the Red Dragons rattled off five unanswered points to go up 22-17. Spano recorded a block, and then May sent in a kill to make it 24-18. Gerace earned the set-winning ace to force a fifth set. 

The final set started close with Hartwick's Staecia Silofau making a kill to tie 4-4. Oneonta responded with a 7-0 run capped off with two straight Alicea aces to lead 11-4. Hartwick then took the following four points before an error made it 12-8. The Hawks won on a 7-0 run with three kills from Aaliyah Williams.

Davis and May each had ten kills, with Davis recording a team-high three blocks. McCabe finished with a career-high eight kills. A trio of Red Dragons had career-bests in aces, with Alicea having seven, Moller tallying five, and senior Karli Chamberlin (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) adding four. Gerace dished out 21 assists, while Alt finished with 19.

Silofau and Thorton led Hartwick with 11 kills. Seymour made 35 assists.

Oneonta next opens SUNYAC play on Fri. Sept. 29, when they travel to face Buffalo State at 6 p.m.