New York, N.Y. - Hunter College men's volleyball fell in a non-conference contest to Fontbonne University on Tuesday night in four sets (26-24, 19-25, 21-25, 25-27) at the Hunter Sportsplex.

The Hawks dropped to 10-5 this season, while the Griffins improved their overall record to 14-1.

The first set foreshadowed a close match as the score was tied up nine different times. With the score tied at nine, Hunter went on an 8-2 run to go up, 17-11. The Griffins reacted with poise, scoring nine of the next 10 points to pull ahead by two, but a kill from Cyrus De Guzman tied the match again. The Purple and Gold found themselves down by two with a score of 23-21 as Qendrim Shala registered two kills to help Hunter score five of the next six points to take the set, 26-24.

Fontbonne got an early 11-8 lead in the second, but kills from Shala and Michael Jazgarski tied the set at 13. From there the Griffins began to pull away, getting a 23-17 advantage and then scoring two points to the Hawks' one for a 25-19 win.

With the Hawks up by three points in the third set the Griffins went on a 7-0 streak to tie it up and then get an 18-15 edge. Kills from De Guzman and Jazgarski helped the Purple and Gold trail by just one, but Fontbonne recorded a 4-1 run to close out the set, taking it 25-21 to lead the match, 2-1.

The fourth set featured 11 tied scores and five lead changes as the Hawks took a 13-9 lead that was erased once the Griffins tied the match at 20. The set went back-and-forth from there with Hunter taking a one-point lead before allowing the Griffins to tie it on four different occasions. Blake Hogan got a kill to lead the Hawks to a 25-24 advantage, but Fontbonne closed it out with three-straight points to win it, 27-25, and get the 3-1 victory.

The Purple and Gold posted a .151 hitting percentage in the loss, allowing the Griffins to hit .192.

Shala led the team with 20 kills, followed by 11 from De Guzman and 11 from Jazgarski.

Chris Scandole recorded a team-high 19 digs, while Blake Hogan added 12, Shala registered 10 and Alec Helford chipped in 10. Helford also posted 46 assists for the Hawks in the match.

The team returns to action this weekend when they travel to a CUNYAC tri-match, where they will face John Jay College and Brooklyn College.