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NEW YORK – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team (11-4) won twice on the first day of New York University's Violet Classic at Coles Sports Center Friday, beating the University of Massachusetts-Boston (5-6), 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-17, 25-23), before topping DeSales University (7-7) by a 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-23) final in the nightcap.

New Paltz wound up outhitting UMass Boston .165-to-.118, but the Beacons posted 5.5 blocks to the Hawks' four.

Set one featured little drama, as UMass Boston led early before the Hawks took control of a lead they would not relinquish. New Paltz wound up winning the frame, 25-18.

The Hawks held a 17-15 edge in the second, but four straight points from the Beacons tipped the scales and forced New Paltz to call a timeout. Freshman middle hitter Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) brought the Hawks within one on the next point with a kill, but another string of four UMass Boston points ultimately gave the Beacons enough momentum to pull out a 25-20 set triumph.

The third set resembled the first, as New Paltz broke away from early back-and-forth play. The Hawks won the set, 25-17.

New Paltz appeared to have the fourth set wrapped up after three unanswered points swelled the Hawk edge to 22-16, but the Beacons went on a 5-0 tear to draw within one. Senior middle hitter Liz Hauser (East Williston, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and junior outside hitter Alex Bizub (Linden, N.J./Cranford) each provided kills for New Paltz's 24th and 25th points of the set, and the Hawks wound up taking the fourth by a 25-23 final.

Roessler sparked the Hawk attack with 10 kills, while senior setter Marissa King (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy) doled out 28 assists. Junior outside hitter Katy Herbst (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) corralled 20 digs to pace the back row on defense.

For UMass Boston, Patsy Boland led the way with 12 terminations, while Emma Rocha dished out 19 assists. Elizabeth Glavan collected 22 digs, while Corrine Porter served up three aces.

New Paltz faced a number of close calls against DeSales, with all three sets being decided by two points. The Hawks posted a .168 hitting percentage for the match compared to the Bulldogs' .103 mark, and New Paltz outblocked DeSales, 6-5. In a match that featured elite back-row play, the Bulldogs owned a narrow 85-84 advantage in digs.

Neither team was able to sustain momentum in the first set, as the pair battled until set point landed. DeSales led, 22-19, but the Hawks scored five straight to claim the lead at 24-22. A service error pulled the Bulldogs back within one, but sophomore outside hitter Becca Borquist (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) landed a termination to give New Paltz a 25-23 victory in the stanza.

DeSales looked to even the sets won column in the second, as a Hawk attacking error brought up set point at 24-20. Remarkably, New Paltz rattled off six straight points, and back-to-back Borquist kills handed the Hawks the second frame at 26-24.

Both teams traded points in the third, and following a Bulldog timeout, DeSales leveled the tally at 23-all. Borquist once again landed back-to-back kills to end the stanza, and the Hawks wound up winning the third by a 25-23 count.

Borquist and Bizub each achieved double-digit kill totals with 19 and 11, respectively. Herbst and Borquist corralled 28 and 25 digs, respectively, while Roessler finished with five total blocks. King kept the offense running with 43 assists.

Lauren Hess paced DeSales with 13 kills, while Amanda Wallitsch and Justine McNulty helped out the defense with 27 and 22 digs, respectively. Arielle Nicholson and Hess reinforced the front row defensively with three blocks each.

New Paltz finishes up action at the Violet Classic tomorrow, squaring off with the Rochester Institute of Technology at 12:30 p.m. before facing off with host NYU at 2:30 p.m.