Box ScoreWEST HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 15 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team (18-11) had little trouble dispatching the University of New Haven (5-12) in straight sets Thursday night, defeating the Chargers, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-23), at Charger Gymnasium in a non-conference match.
New Haven hit .000 on the match, landing 20 kills and piling up 20 attack errors on 71 total attempts. New Paltz, meanwhile, hit .295 off 36 kills and 13 errors in 78 total attempts. The Chargers outblocked the Hawks by a 4-3 margin, but New Paltz overwhelmed New Haven off the serve with 10 service aces, three of which came from freshman setter
Brian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y.).
Offensively, freshman middle blocker/opposite Brian O'Connor (Guilderland, N.Y.) led the way for the Hawks to the tune of 12 kills and three attack errors in 19 total attempts (.474 hitting percentage). Freshman setter
Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y.) handed out a match-high 33 assists, while freshman outside hitter
Victor Tuminelli (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and O'Connor tied for the team-high in digs with five. Smith, junior defensive specialist/libero
Michael Dauernheim (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and junior defensive specialist
Ramius Pruiss (Wallkill, N.Y.) also fortified the defense with four digs each. Senior middle blocker
Jonathan Van Dyke (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) finished the match with one block solo and one block assist, keying the team's blocking efforts.
For New Haven, Ben Hollies had eight kills, while Ryan Earl dished out 20 assists. Hollies provided a match-high six digs and added three service aces, while Joshua Mainetti came up with two block assists.
The Hawks return to the court on Saturday, March 26, to face Medaille College in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Tournament, which runs from Saturday through Sunday on the campus of the top seed, Nazareth College. New Paltz holds the No. 7 seed, while Medaille possesses the No. 2 seed.
