Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Tournament Website

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team won its eighth Hawks Invitational title, and its first since 2010, on Saturday at the Hawk Center, winning twice on the event's second and final day. New Paltz, which went 4-0 on the weekend, defeated Farleigh Dickinson University-College at Florham, 3-1 (18-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17), before downing New York University, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-21).
 
Sophomore middle hitter Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) earned Tournament MVP honors, while junior outside hitter Becca Borquist (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) joined her on the All-Tournament Team. The rest of the All-Tournament Team included sophomore libero MaTia Hughes and senior setter/opposite Katie Robinson from NYU, freshman outside hitter Melissa Gaffney from FDU-Florham and sophomore outside hitter Sara Madison from SUNY Fredonia.
 
New Paltz stretched its winning streak to nine with the wins and moves to 10-2 overall. The Hawks next host the Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. FDU-Florham drops to 8-8 overall and meets up with Manhattanville College on Wednesday, Sept. 17, in its Freedom Conference opener, while NYU drops to 8-5 overall and hosts the NYU Violet Classic from Friday-Saturday, Sept. 19-20.
 
New Paltz 3, FDU-Florham 1
 
After a rocky first set that saw the Hawks hit .184, New Paltz settled into a groove in the second, third and fourth sets to edge a pesky Devil squad.
 
FDU-Florham showed no signs of intimidation against the host Hawks in the first stanza, hitting .320 off nine kills and just one error in 25 total attempts. New Paltz, which hopped out to an 8-5 lead in the first, allowed the Devils to chip away at the advantage, and after the Hawks seized a 16-15 edge, FDU-Florham rattled off five straight points to take a 20-16 lead. That gave the Devils enough cushion to pull out the 25-18 victory in the frame.
 
From that point forward, the Hawks did not relinquish the lead in any set, and they ended up pulling out the win to keep their tournament title hopes alive.
 
New Paltz finished with a 9-7 edge in total team blocks and held a 14-9 cushion in service aces. The Hawks hit .179 as a team for the contest and limited the Devils to a .079 hitting percentage.
 
Borquist paced the Hawk offense with a career-high-tying 25 kills, and she did so off a .323 hitting percentage (25-5-62). Senior libero Katy Herbst (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) defended 27 digs and floored six service aces, while freshman setter Maddie Zwickl (Chester, N.Y./Warwick Valley) doled out 36 assists.
 
For FDU-Florham, Gaffney led the way with eight kills and 11 digs, while sophomore libero Alex Mueller collected 21 digs. Sophomore middle hitter Alex Barnett finished the match with five total blocks to reinforce the front row defensively for the Devils.
 
New Paltz 3, NYU 0
 
In the final match of the tournament that pitted the two unbeaten teams at the tournament, the Hawks came from behind to win the first and second sets, and in the third, they staved off a strong rally late by the Violets to clinch the match.
 
NYU stormed out of the gates in the first set by taking a 10-4 advantage, and after the Hawks drew within two, the Violets scored three straight points to seize a 14-9 cushion. With the score at 17-12 in favor of NYU, New Paltz got the serve back off a Roessler kill, and five more consecutive points—the last of which came off a block assist by senior middle hitter Alli Coleman (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton Central) and Borquist—put the Hawks out in front, 18-17. NYU wound up reclaiming the lead at 21-20, but back-to-back-to-back Roessler kills brought up set point at 24-21. After siding the Hawks out, the Violets were yet again unable to contain Roessler, as she floored a kill to give New Paltz a 25-22 win in the first.
 
Midway through the second set, NYU began rolling off a significant amount of momentum, and the high-water mark for the Violets came after a Hawk attacking error gave them a 15-11 lead. Six straight New Paltz points, however, reversed the fortunes of the two teams, and the Hawks forced an NYU timeout at 17-15 in favor of New Paltz. As is the case in any match between two juggernauts, NYU wrested the lead back, and with the score tied at 22-all, Roessler closed the set with three consecutive kills to give the Hawks another 25-22 triumph.
 
New Paltz overwhelmed NYU in the early goings of the third set, jumping out to a commanding 22-10 lead. The Violets started scoring points in bunches, though, and after New Paltz brought up match point off an NYU attacking error, the visitors scored five straight points to prompt a New Paltz timeout after NYU pulled within three at 24-21. Following the regrouping, the Hawks relied on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Katy Braddon (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy) to seal the win.
 
NYU, fatigued from a five-set marathon in its 1 p.m. match against Fredonia, was limited to a .087 hitting percentage, though the Violets did hold the Hawks to a .152 clip. NYU held a 6-5 edge in blocks and a 9-8 cushion in service aces.
 
New Paltz once again relied on steady play from Borquist and Roessler, who landed 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Notably, Roessler locked up Tournament MVP honors with a .450 hitting percentage and two block assists. Herbst fielded 19 digs, while senior right side Alex Bizub (Linden, N.J./Cranford) tallied 10 digs and three service aces.
 
Four different Violets notched five kills, while Hughes kept NYU in the match with 26 digs.