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NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After a day in which it went 1-1, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team (26-7, 6-2 SUNYAC East) rebounded on Saturday afternoon on the second day of the second round of State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) East Division Pool Play at the Hawk Center, winning both of its matches. It topped 11th-ranked SUNY Cortland, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 17-25, 15-13), in the first match of the day before besting SUNY Potsdam, 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-15) in the nightcap.
With a final conference record of 6-2, the Hawks earned the SUNYAC East Division's No. 2 seed. They will travel to Buffalo State—the West Division's No. 1 seed—for the 2012 SUNYAC Volleyball Championship Tournament, which will take place from Friday, Nov. 2, through Sunday, Nov. 4. The Hawks meet up with SUNY Oswego—the West Division's No. 3 seed—in the quarterfinal round on Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.
New Paltz appeared poised to cruise to a straight-set win against Cortland after taking the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-21. The Red Dragons, though, turned to an effective offense in the third and fourth sets, hitting .300 and .341, respectively, in those stanzas. This forced a deciding game, which lived up to the hype of the back-and-forth nature seen in the first four sets.
In the fifth set, New Paltz took a 4-0 lead early, forcing Cortland to take a time out. After the Red Dragons scored their first point to make the score 4-1, the two teams traded points until Cortland went on a 2-0 run to trim the deficit to two at 6-4. A block assist by senior right side
Eleanor Skovgaard (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford-Sutherland) and senior middle hitter
Dana Vosilla (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) followed by a Cortland attack error gave the Hawks an 8-4 cushion heading into the turn.
The Red Dragons rattled off three straight points, prompting a Hawk timeout. A Cortland service error extended the New Paltz edge to two, and the teams each sided each other out before the Red Dragons went on a 3-0 run that gave them their first lead of the set at 11-10. A Cortland service error tied the score back up at 11-all, but Ashley Coyle gave the Red Dragons a lead again with a kill. Back-to-back kills by Skovgaard pushed the lead back in favor of New Paltz, but Kristen Guercio tied it back up for Cortland at 13-all. Freshman outside hitter
Becca Borquist floored a kill to make it 14-13, and with match point on the line, Vosilla slammed down a termination to give the Hawks the victory.
Senior outside hitter
Michelle Jacobson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) paced the Hawks with 18 kills and 24 digs, while Borquist's 10 kills ranked second on the team. Defensively, junior libero
Carrie Hack (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker), Borquist and sophomore libero
Katy Herbst (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) chipped in with 23, 19 and 16 digs, respectively. Junior setter
Marissa King dished out 48 assists, while Hack had three service aces.
For Cortland, Coyle (17), Ava Hintz (15), Natalie Zacpal (13) and Aubrey Barrett (13) all had double-digit figures in kills, while Krissy Silk came up with 30 digs. Guercio handed out 56 assists, while Kim Givelechian fortified the front row with four total blocks.
New Paltz carried its momentum from the win over Cortland to its match against Potsdam later on in the afternoon. During the course of the contest, there were just two tie scores and two lead changes, and the Hawks hit .217 to the Bears' .000 hitting percentage.
Jacobson hit .357 with 10 kills and no hitting errors in 28 total attempts, while Vosilla hit .500 (9-0-18) and had three total blocks. Hack and Borquist boasted 15 and 11 digs, respectively, while Hack floored four service aces. King helped the offense run with 30 assists.
For Potsdam, Sara Anderson had a team-high six kills, while Jenna Blujus recorded 16 assists and 12 digs.
New Paltz competes in its final home match of the 2012 season on Wednesday, Oct. 24, as it hosts Vassar College at 7 p.m. in a non-conference bout.
