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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After hitting just .083 in the first set, the No. 2 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team poured on the offense against No. 6 Nazareth College, beating the Golden Flyers, 3-1 (15-25, 25-7, 25-16, 25-23), on the second and final day of the first United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Crossover of the season Sunday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
 
New Paltz was hampered by six attacking errors and floored just eight kills in the first stanza, while Nazareth hit .417. The lopsided second set score came from a -.400 (2-10-20) hitting percentage from the Golden Flyers and a sterling .667 (8-0-12) hitting percentage for the Hawks. Nazareth's offense regained footing in the third set, but the New Paltz attack continued to hum along at an efficient rate, as the Hawks hit .632 (13-1-19). Finally, in a fourth set that saw both teams combine for 57 total attacks, New Paltz surged late on the strength of three terminations from sophomore middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa).
 
New Paltz rises to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the UVC. The Hawks next face Bard College in a UVC match on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Nazareth drops to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the UVC. The Golden Flyers next visit Medaille College on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m.
 
The Golden Flyers, who are now 28-4 in UVC matches since the first year of the conference's inception in 2011, dug in early, scoring the first three points of the first set. Nazareth kept New Paltz at arm's length until it fired off five straight points to take a 15-7 lead. The Hawks were unable to score more than two points consecutively down the stretch in the first, and as a result, they fell by a 25-15 score.
 
Nazareth unraveled early on in the second set, as New Paltz's first three points came off unforced errors. The Golden Flyers were unable to run their offense productively, and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Tim Zyburt that drew Nazareth within 15 at 22-6 proved to be their first termination of the set. Following that Zyburt kill, the Hawks scored on a service error, and after a Husmann kill brought up set point, junior middle blocker Luke Lawatsch hammered down a termination to give the Golden Flyers the serve back. New Paltz closed out the set on the next rally, as sophomore outside hitter Tim Ferriter (Rochester, N.Y./West Irondequoit) delivered a kill.
 
The third set was tightly contested in the early goings, with the Hawks holding a slight edge. Up 19-15, New Paltz went on a 6-0 run, which was capped off by three service aces from freshman middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa), to force set point. A Hawk service error gave Nazareth reprieve, but the Golden Flyers handed the Hawks the set on the next point with a service error.
 
The Hawks appeared poised to win the fourth set by a large margin, as a block assist by Woessner and sophomore setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) gave New Paltz a 19-15 lead. Nazareth clawed back, though, going point for point with the Hawks before scoring four straight to claim a 22-21 lead. Husmann came up big down the stretch, scoring three of the next four points—the other of which came off a Nazareth kill—to bring up match point at 24-23. Woessner punctuated his breakout match with a block solo on the next rally, and the Hawks walked out of Cambridge, Mass., with the key victory.
 
New Paltz hit .341 for the match, while Nazareth hit .170. The Golden Flyers finished with a 5.5-5 edge in blocks, while the Hawks owned a 7-5 margin in service aces.
 
Ferriter posted the second-best single-match hitting percentage (minimum of 20 total attempts and includes matches from 1996 on) in program history, fashioning a .696 mark with 17 kills and one error in 23 total attempts. Smith and junior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) totaled 23 and 12 assists, respectively, while Woessner posted four total blocks. Smith also led the team on the back row defensively with six digs.
 
For Nazareth, Zyburt's 11 kills led the way, while junior setter Nick McDonagh doled out 31 assists. McDonagh fell just short of a double-double, as he tallied a match-high nine digs.