Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team (12-7) put together an impressive performance on Senior Night Wednesday, besting Williams College (11-6), 3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 25-15, 25-19), in non-conference action at the Hawk Center. It was the regular-season home finale for New Paltz.

The victory pushed the Hawks' win streak to five and ended the Ephs' six-match tear. For much of the match, the New Paltz middles hit at an efficient percentage, and the Hawks relied on balanced defensive contributions to prevent Williams from gaining momentum.

In the first set, New Paltz trailed by two at 9-7 before rattling off six straight points. The Ephs sided out the Hawks off a service error, but New Paltz won five more points unanswered to swell the advantage to eight at 18-10. From there on out, the Hawks outscored the Ephs by a 7-2 margin the remainder of the stanza and won the first frame handily.

Both squads battled back and forth in the second set, as there were 16 tie scores and six lead changes. After a Claire Miller attack error tied the score at 22-all, Williams put together three points to take the frame.

New Paltz dominated from the get-go in the third, taking a situation where it trailed, 2-1, and building a 6-2 advantage. After hitting at a mere .075 clip in the second set, the Hawk attack found the floor once again, hitting .323 with a 73 percent sideout percentage.

In the fourth set, New Paltz led early, but Williams stormed back midway through the frame, coming within two at 15-13. Back-to-back kills by senior outside hitter Melinda DiGiovanna (West Hempstead, N.Y./West Hempstead) and junior middle hitter Dana Vosilla (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) pushed the tally to 17-13, and four different Hawks notched a kill during a six-point run to extend the advantage to eight at 22-14. New Paltz's defense clamped down and kept the Ephs from cracking 20 points, completing the four-set triumph.

The Hawk attack hit .257 on the match, with DiGiovanna and Vosilla leading the charge with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Five Hawks had double-digit dig totals—sophomore libero Carrie Hack (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) with 17, senior setter Kelsey Garmendia (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) with 15, sophomore setter Marissa King (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy) with 12, DiGiovanna with 11 and freshman libero Katy Herbst (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) with 10—and Vosilla's one block solo and five block assists keyed the team's blocking efforts. King also handed out a match-high 45 assists.

For Williams, Raea Rasmussen had a team-high 10 kills, and Amanda Schott distributed 29 assists. Miller and Aly McKinnon had 17 and 11 digs, respectively, while Haley Eagon boasted one block solo and one block assist.

Prior to the match, the Hawks honored their three seniors: DiGiovanna, Garmendia and senior right side Tara Annunziata (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa).

New Paltz competes at the Springfield Tournament this weekend, taking on Westfield State College and No. 20 Springfield College on Friday, Oct. 7, before squaring off with the Stevens Institute of Technology and Plymouth State University on Saturday, Oct. 8.