NEW PALTZ, NY- The New Paltz men's volleyball team hosted a tri-match in the Hawk Center with #7 Philadelphia Biblical and Division I Sacred Heart University this afternoon. The Hawks split on the day, defeating #7 Philadelphia Biblical in straight sets and falling to Sacred Heart in four. The Hawks upped their record to 11-11 overall and return to the court on Thursday, March 11 at #4 Baruch at 7 p.m.
In the first game against the Pioneers from Sacred Heart, the Hawks fell 3-1 (22-30, 30-27, 27-30, 17-30). # Daniel Liberto led the Hawks with 17 kills and Kevin Stross# with 16 kills and a .387 hitting percentage, including four blocks. Jake Moore chipped in with 10 kills and two blocks. The Hawks defense was strong with a team total of 10 blocks, four from Jonathan Van Dyke. Andrew Cassius had a game-high 46 assists and led the Hawks with 16 digs for his fifth double-double of the year. Mike Fink added 12 digs and Sean Foley had 10 digs for the Hawks defense.
Roger Parent led all hitters with 22 kills and a .442 hitting percentage and 13 kills for a double-double. Craig Harvey added 11 kills and Kalani Efstathiou chipped with eight for the Pioneers, who improve to 11-7 overall. Tim Sadowski handed out 46 assists and Scott Grandpre, Parent and Efstathiou each had 13 digs a piece to lead the Pioneers.
In the nightcap against #7 Philadelphia Biblical, the Hawks cruised to the easy 3-0 (30-25, 30-23, 35-33) victory. Moore finished with a team-high 18 kills and a .400 hitting percentage and Liberto chipped in with 14 kills and a .360 hitting percentage. Stross added 12 kills with a .409 hitting percentage and seven blocks on defense. Cassius handed out a game-high 45 assists and Eric Rothbard and Moore each had eight digs to lead the defense.
Justin Brubaker led with a game-high 19 kills and 13 digs for a double-double and Leandro Dueck added 13 kills and seven digs for the Crimson Eagles. Drew Dillonw handed out 41 assists and Jeff Stauffer had 10 digs, while Noah Prickett had four a team-high blocks. The Crimson Eagles fell earlier in the day to Sacred Heart in straight sets to fall to 15-6 overall.
