Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Spurred by a .298 hitting percentage, the No. 7 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team (15-4, 6-2 UVC) topped No. 12 Vassar College (11-7, 4-4 UVC) by a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-18) final on Wednesday evening at the Hawk Center in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action.

Vassar was hurt by a .013 hitting percentage, which included a -.240 clip in the second set. New Paltz had 10.5 blocks to Vassar's four, and the Hawks posted a 32-27 edge in digs.

In the first set, the score was tied at 15-all before New Paltz went on a three-point tear. After a kill by sophomore setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), the Hawks led 18-15 and never looked back. Vassar was unable to put together consecutive points from that point forward in the stanza, and the home team won the first set by a 25-19 score.

New Paltz hopped out to a 6-1 edge in the second stanza thanks to five straight Brewer attacking errors. The Hawks were able to keep their distance the rest of the set, and they wound up scoring nine of the frame's final 11 points to prevail, 25-14.

Vassar gave New Paltz a run in the third, using strong play midway through the set to challenge the Hawks. The Hawks scored the frame's first four points before Charlie Caldwell floored a kill for Vassar. The Brewers continued to pull closer, and they scored three straight points midway through the stanza to take a 15-13 advantage. Both teams sided each other out before New Paltz went on a 4-0 run, and freshman outside hitter Tim Ferriter (Rochester, N.Y./West Irondequoit) pounded down a pair of terminations to give the home team an 18-16 lead. With the set at 19-18 in favor of the Hawks, New Paltz punctuated the match by scoring its final six points, three of which came off swings by freshman setter/right side Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa).

Ferriter led the Hawks in kills with 11, while junior middle blocker/right side Brian O'Connor (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) hit .600 with six kills and no errors in 10 total attempts. Lutjen stuffed the stat sheet by collecting nine kills, 17 assists, eight digs and six total blocks. Smith contributed 17 assists and six digs, while O'Connor and freshman middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) boasted three total blocks.

For Vassar, Caldwell paced a balanced attack with five kills, while Colin White-Dzuro had a team-high nine assists. Luke Sobieraj posted six digs, while Matt Elgin totaled four blocks.

New Paltz hosts the second UVC crossover of the 2013 campaign from Saturday-Sunday, March 9-10. The Hawks take on top-ranked Nazareth College and Penn State Behrend at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, on Saturday before squaring off with Hilbert College at 3 p.m. on Sunday.