Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Tournament Website

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – After losing a tough match to Johns Hopkins University Friday night, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team bounced back with a pair of wins on Saturday at the Days Inn Blue Jay Classic at Elizabethtown College's Thompson Gymnasium. New Paltz downed host Elizabethtown, 3-1 (25-19, 25-15, 21-25, 25-12), before defeating Swarthmore College, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17).

The Hawks finished out the weekend at 3-1, as they beat York (Pa.) College and lost to Johns Hopkins in Friday's matches. For her efforts during all four matches throughout the event, senior libero Katy Herbst (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) was named to the All-Tournament Team.

New Paltz rises to 14-3 overall and begins State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) competition in a pool-play pod at SUNY Oneonta from Friday-Saturday, Sept. 26-27. Elizabethtown drops to 7-8, and following its final match of the Days Inn Blue Jay Classic against Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays next host Moravian College in their Landmark Conference opener on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Swarthmore falls to 6-4 and squares off with Franklin & Marshall College in its Centennial Conference opener on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

New Paltz 3, Elizabethtown 1

New Paltz had little trouble with the host Blue Jays in the first, second and fourth sets, but .045 hitting in the third compared to Elizabethtown's .136 clip in the set allowed the hosts to prevent a straight-set sweep.

Both teams played close throughout most of the first set, but a surge at the end of the frame by New Paltz made the score look more lopsided than it actually was. Elizabethtown pulled within one at 19-18 off a kill by senior middle hitter Kelci Scannapieco, but the Hawks went on a 4-0 run that was capped off by a kill by senior middle hitter Alli Coleman (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton Central). Following the second of two Elizabethtown timeouts, the Blue Jays got the serve back after a Hawk attacking error, but an Elizabethtown attacking error and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Anna Paulik (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) gave New Paltz the first set, 25-19.

New Paltz set the tempo early in the second set, and two big runs gave the Hawks an 11-6 edge. Elizabethtown clawed back and took advantage of a Hawk attacking error to pull within three at 14-11, but New Paltz countered with a six-point tear to go up, 20-11. The Blue Jays were unable to muster consecutive points the rest of the frame, and the Hawks put the home team on the ropes with a 25-15 triumph in the second.

Elizabethtown never trailed in the third set, though New Paltz made things interesting midway through the frame. The Hawks went point for point with the Blue Jays to stay within a three-point margin, but Elizabethtown rattled off three straight points to take a 23-18 lead. New Paltz tried to rally back, getting the serve back after a Blue Jay attacking error and a kill by junior outside hitter Becca Borquist (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck), but Elizabethtown secured the 25-21 win with a kill by Scannapieco.

The Blue Jays looked to be on their way toward forcing a fifth set early in the fourth, scoring four straight points to take a 4-2 lead. New Paltz scored four unanswered points, though, to reclaim the advantage, and a pair of big runs midway through the stanza helped the Hawks secure a match-clinching 25-12 win in the set.

New Paltz finished with a .193-to-.070 advantage in hitting percentage, and it held a 7-4 edge in total team blocks.

The Hawk attack was led by Paulik and Borquist, who posted 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Both Paulik and Borquist completed a double-double with 16 and 21 digs, respectively, while Herbst defended 20 digs. Freshman setter Maddie Zwickl (Chester, N.Y./Warwick Valley) handed out 36 assists and totaled 12 digs to also notch a double-double, while Coleman finished with four total blocks.

For Elizabethtown, Scannapieco led the way both offensively and defensively with 10 kills and three block assists. Junior setter Brynne Kirsch handed out 12 assists, while junior libero Shannon Deck registered 18 digs.

New Paltz 3, Swarthmore 0

New Paltz finished out the tournament with its only straight-set sweep of the weekend against Swarthmore.

Borquist helped the Hawks in all facets of the match, tallying 12 kills, 16 digs and three blocks. Herbst collected 21 digs, while Zwickl dished out 34 assists.