NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team will travel to Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., on Wednesday, Feb. 12, to face Bard College at 7 p.m. in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) play.
RECORDS: New Paltz holds an overall record of 10-1 and is 4-0 in the UVC, while Bard claims a 3-6, 1-3 record.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (10-1, 4-0 UVC): New Paltz is coming off a big weekend, finishing the first UVC Crossover of the season (Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 8-9) unbeaten at 3-0, defeating D'Youville College, 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-13), then-No. 7 Elmira College, 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 25-22) and then-No. 6 Nazareth College, 3-1 (15-25, 25-7, 25-16, 25-23)…
Against D'Youville: Junior outside hitter
Gus Gregory led the Hawk attack with six kills, while junior setter
John Lutjen posted a match-high in assists (14) and service aces (3)… Freshman middle blocker
Jake Roessler had five blocks and senior libero
Victor Tuminelli came up with seven digs.
Against No. 7 Elmira: Sophomore middle blocker
Christopher Husmann had a match-high 16 kills, while sophomore outside hitter
Tim Ferriter added another 12 kills… Sophomore setter
Christian Smith and Lutjen contributed 26 and 18 assists, respectively… Ferriter totaled four blocks and Lutjen came up with nine digs.
Against No. 6 Nazareth: Ferriter posted the second-best single-match hitting percentage in program history, on a .696 mark with 17 kills and only one error in 23 attempts… Smith and Lutjen dished out 23 and 12 assists, respectively… Smith also led the team with six digs and freshman middle blocker
Steven Woessner posted four blocks.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Ferriter leads the team and is sixth in the UVC in kills per set (3.67)… Three Hawks are ranked among the UVC top 10 in hitting percentage: Ferriter is ranked fifth (.396), Woessner is ranked seventh (.376) and Husmann ranks 10th (.331)… Smith ranks ninth in the conference and paces the team in assists per set (7.09)… Three Hawks rank in the top 10 for service aces per set: Woessner ranks fourth in the UVC (0.47), senior
Dylan Rabidoux is ranked sixth (0.40) and Gregory ranks seventh (0.38).
TEAM STATISTICS: New Paltz ranks first in the UVC in three categories: kills per set (12.67), hitting percentage (.311) and service aces per set (1.67)… New Paltz ranks second in the conference in assists per set (11.77)… In addition, the team ranks first in NCAA Division III in kills per set and second in Division III in assists per set and hitting percentage… The Hawks have been strong on defense, too, averaging 8.54 digs per set and 1.72 blocks per set.
SCOUTING THE RAPTORS (3-6, 1-3 UVC): At the UVC Crossover from Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 8-9, Bard went 1-2, losing to Medaille College and Penn State-Behrend, before topping Hilbert College, 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-13, 15-10) on the last day of the event… Against Hilbert, freshman Alex Adams had 11 kills, six digs and two blocks, while freshman right side Shane McDonald added nine kills and seven digs… Senior outside hitter Billy Williams and sophomore libero Daniel Gagne each had seven kills and nine digs, respectively, while sophomore outside hitter Jesse Small had eight kills and 10 digs… Freshman setter Henry Kasiske added six kills, 30 assists, six digs and five service aces.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Kasiske leads the team in assists with 7.21 per set, ranking eighth in the conference, he also leads the team in service aces, averaging 0.53 per set, which ranks him third in the UVC… Williams is the team leader in kills with 2.82 per set… Adams leads the team in blocks per set with 0.79.
TEAM STATISTICS: Bard ranks third in the UVC in digs per set, averaging 10.21, and fifth in the conference in service aces per set (1.41)… Bard averages 9.3 kills per set and 8.6 assists per set.
LAST MEETING: New Paltz and Bard last met Jan. 30, 2013, in New Paltz's UVC opener… The Hawks swept the Raptors, 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-18)… See below for the match recap.
MATCH RECAP:
Jan. 30, 2013 WHAT'S NEXT: After Wednesday's match, both teams will travel to Springfield, Mass., for the Springfield College Invitational from Friday-Saturday, Feb. 14-15… On Friday, New Paltz will face No. 1 Rivier University at 6 p.m. and then No. 2 Springfield College at 8 p.m., while Bard will face Springfield at 6 p.m. and then Johnson & Wales University at 8 p.m… On Saturday, Feb. 15, New Paltz will take on Johnson & Wales at 12:30 p.m., while Bard squares off with Rivier at 10:30 a.m… In the final match of the tournament Saturday, New Paltz and Bard will meet again at 2:30 pm.
COACHES: New Paltz is led by eighth-year head coach
Radu Petrus, while Bard is directed by first-year head coach Stefanie Carrington.
