Box Score NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 2 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team fell, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 29-27, 25-23), to No. 4 Springfield College in its 2014 home opener Thursday night in a non-conference match-up between two top-five teams that saw numerous swings of momentum. It served as a make-up from a weather-postponed contest that was originally slated for Wednesday night.
The third set wound up being the difference, as Springfield held off a New Paltz comeback to go up 2-1 heading into the fourth stanza. The Hawks scored four straight points in the third to tie the score at 22-all, and the two teams traded points until New Paltz scored two straight to go up 26-25. Springfield benefited from a Hawk service error and received a block assist from sophomore outside hitter Luis Vega and senior middle blocker Jimmy O'Leary to go up 27-26, but New Paltz knotted the tally at 27-all with a kill by sophomore outside hitter
(Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa), but after the two teams traded a point, Springfield scored four consecutive points to break open a 13-9 advantage. The Hawks continued to crawl back and forced a Pride timeout at 14-13 in favor of Springfield after Ferriter landed a service ace. Neither team was able to capture momentum until the Pride scored two straight points to go up by four at 21-17, but after a New Paltz timeout, the Hawks scored five of the next six points to tie the score at 22-all. That set the stage for the dramatic finish, which ultimately favored the two-time defending NCAA Division III national champions.
New Paltz outhit Springfield, .257-.245, for the match, but the Hawks were bested off the serve. New Paltz committed 25 service errors to Springfield's 20, while the Pride floored six service aces to the Hawks' four. Blocking played a crucial role late, with Springfield holding the upper hand, 10.5-8.
The story of the night for New Paltz was balance, as everyone in the starting lineup had at least seven kills. Sophomore middle blocker
Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) led the way with 11 kills and hit .444, while Ferriter totaled 10 kills and fashioned a .304 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter
Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and junior setter
John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) dished out 28 and 17 assists, respectively, while Lutjen added a match-high-tying seven digs. Blocking-wise, Husmann and freshman middle blocker
C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence) paced New Paltz with three total blocks each, and Borfitz's total was achieved on three straight points late in the fourth set.
For Springfield, Vega and junior outside hitter Angel Perez led the way with 16 and 11 kills, respectively, and O'Leary provided an efficient swing to the attack, hitting .615 with eight kills and no errors in 13 total attempts. Junior setter Keaton Pieper distributed 38 assists, while O'Leary finished with three service aces. Perez and senior libero Nick Ferry tied Lutjen for the match-high in digs with seven apiece, while Vega headlined the team's blocking efforts with five block assists.
