NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 2 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team prepares for a home-opening showdown against No. 4 Springfield College on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m. in non conference competition.
RESCHEDULED MATCH: This match, which was originally slated for Wednesday, Feb. 5, was rescheduled to Thursday, Feb. 6, due to a winter storm.
RECORDS: New Paltz is currently undefeated with an overall record of 7-0, while Springfield will enter the Hawk Center with a 5-4 mark.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (7-0): New Paltz remains undefeated after a successful tri-match Saturday afternoon, beating No. 14 Kean University, 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23), before sweeping Lancaster Bible College, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18)… In the win against Kean, sophomore outside hitter
Tim Ferriter and sophomore middle blocker Christopher Hussman led the Hawks with 15 and 13 kills, respectively… Sophomore setter
Christian Smith dished out 44 assists, while senior libero
Victor Tuminelli came up big with a match-high nine digs… The Hawks came out strong in their victory against Lancaster Bible College, as sophomore setter/defensive specialist
Kevin Nardone finished with eight kills and a team-high 16 assists… Freshman defensive specialist
Steve Gassert led the back row with a team-high four digs.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Ferriter leads the team and is third in the UVC in kills per set (3.94)… Three Hawks are ranked among the UVC top 10 in hitting percentage: Nardone leads the team and is ranked third (.438), freshman middle blocker
Steven Woessner is ranked fifth (.400) and Ferriter ranks sixth (.395)…
Christian Smith ranks seventh in the conference and paces the team in assists per set (7.90), while Tuminelli leads New Paltz in digs per set with 2.28… Junior outside hitter
Gus Gregory leads the team and is fourth in the conference in service aces per set (0.67).
TEAM STATISTICS: New Paltz ranks first in the UVC in three categories: kills per set (13.08), hitting percentage (.318) and assists per set (12.21)… The Hawks have been strong on defense, too, ranking fifth in the conference, averaging 9.46 digs per set… New Paltz ranks third in the UVC in service aces, averaging 1.71 per set.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE (5-4): The Springfield College men's volleyball team lost to Rivier University on Saturday, Feb. 1, by a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-19, 25-13) final, breaking the Pride's 30-match winning streak against Division III competition… Springfield rebounded later that day to sweep Johnson & Wales University, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 26-24)… In the loss against Rivier, junior outside hitter Angel Perez totaled 14 kills at a .591 clip while sophomore outside hitter Luis Vega contributed a match-high 15 kills and seven digs... Senior outside hitter Ryan Malone added 10 kills and junior setter Keaton Pieper finished the match with 42 assists… Against Johnson & Wales, Vega posted nine kills at a .457 clip in two sets, while sophomore outside hitter Greg Woods added six kills… Senior middle blocker Jimmy O'Leary came up with five blocks and freshman setter Luis Garcia Rubio facilitated the offense with 28 assists.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Vega leads the team in kills per set with 3.40… Pieper is the team leader in assists with 9.52 per set… O'Leary averages 1.36 blocks per set, the most on the team.
TEAM STATISTICS: The Pride averages 11.50 kills per set, 10.97 assists per set and has a team hitting percentage of .266… Defensively Springfield averages 2.55 blocks per set and comes up with 7.57 digs per set.
LAST MEETING: The Hawks and The Pride faced each other last season on Feb. 16, 2013… New Paltz fell to Springfield, 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 22-25), at the Juniata Tournament… See below for the recap from that match.
MATCH RECAP:
Feb. 16, 2013 WHAT'S NEXT: Both teams will resume play on Saturday, Feb. 8… New Paltz will travel to Cambridge, Mass., for a UVC Crossover at MIT… On Saturday, New Paltz will face D'Youville College at 1 p.m. and then No. 7 Elmira College at 5 p.m… On Sunday, Feb. 9, the Hawks will go up against rival and sixth-ranked Nazareth College at noon…. Springfield will host Kean and Daniel Webster College on Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.
COACHES: New Paltz is led by eighth-year head coach
Radu Petrus, while Springfield is directed by Charlie Sullivan, who enters his 16th season as head coach.
