Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Despite being down two sets to none against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in its first match of the day at the Vassar Tournament on Friday at Vassar College's Athletics & Fitness Center, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team rallied to defeat the Engineers, 3-2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-13), before downing Ramapo College, 3-0 (25-7, 27-25, 25-20), to complete the Friday sweep.

New Paltz rises to 4-2 with the wins and closes out action at the Vassar Tournament tomorrow, facing the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 1 p.m. before squaring off with host Vassar at 3 p.m. MIT and Ramapo move to 5-1 and 5-2, respectively, and also finish out play at the Vassar Tournament tomorrow.

New Paltz 3, MIT 2

New Paltz appeared to have its hands full from the get go, and MIT posted two relatively convincing wins in the first two sets to put the Hawks on the ropes. New Paltz, however, responded well under pressure, staving off late charges by the Engineers in the third, fourth and fifth sets to emerge victorious.

The match's momentum appeared to swing almost fully in the Hawks' direction in the fifth set after sophomore middle hitter Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) slammed down a crucial kill. With freshman setter Maddie Zwickl (Chester, N.Y./Warwick Valley) in front of the net along the right sideline, Zwickl launched a centering set to Roessler, and Roessler unleashed a powerful swing that rocketed the ball toward the court on the MIT side. That kill—which gave the Hawks an 11-9 edge—forced MIT to take its first of two timeouts in the set.

The Engineers, however, made things interesting after another Roessler kill pushed the score to 12-9, as they scored back-to-back points off kills from sophomore outside hitter Megan Gebhard and senior outside hitter/right side Jenny Astrachan. Following a New Paltz timeout, MIT tied the score with a Gebhard service ace. Junior outside hitter Becca Borquist (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) gave the Hawks the lead once again before Astrachan tied it at 13-all. Roessler brought up match point on the next rally with a termination, while Borquist ended the match with a kill off a Zwickl set.

New Paltz struggled in the early goings, hitting -.024 in the first set and .140 in the second frame. The Hawks did not lead once during the first stanza, and the lead changed hands just one time in the second.

Even though the Hawks were down two sets, they came out fighting in the third, going on a 4-0 spurt to open up a 10-5 lead. MIT traded points with New Paltz until the Engineers' 4-0 run of their own tied the score at 13-all. The Hawks seized the momentum back during the next five rallies, though, with back-to-back aces from freshman setter Melannie Aquino (Billerica, Mass./Burlington) giving New Paltz an 18-13 cushion. MIT would eventually draw within one point at 24-23, but an Engineer attacking error forced a fourth set.

Back-and-forth play highlighted the first half of the fourth set, but New Paltz jumped ahead 20-15 following a 4-0 scoring spree that was capped off by an MIT attacking error. The Engineers battled back, though, scoring seven of the next 10 points to make it a one-point set at 23-22. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Anna Paulik (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and another Engineer attacking error handed the Hawks a 25-22 triumph in the fourth.

New Paltz won in spite of the fact that MIT held a .168-to-.125 edge in hitting percentage, but the Hawks made up for it with defense: New Paltz outgained MIT in both digs (95-79) and total team blocks (9.5-4). Both teams were evenly matched at the service line, with the Hawks holding a slight 10-9 edge in service aces.

Borquist stuffed the stat sheet with 17 kills and 19 digs, while senior libero Katy Herbst's (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) defense kept New Paltz in the match, as she joined the 30-dig club with 33 digs. Notably, Borquist surpassed the 1,000-dig mark for her career during the match and finished the day with 1,007 to her credit across her three years on the team. Roessler and senior right side Alex Bizub (Linden, N.J./Cranford) added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while Paulik defended 13 digs. Roessler and Paulik also fortified the front row defensively with six and five total blocks, respectively. Zwickl and Aquino split time setting and finished with 24 and 18 assists, respectively.

MIT was paced offensively by Gebhard, whose cannon-like arm accounted for 21 kills and a .254 hitting percentage. Four Engineers finished with double-digit dig figures, led by sophomore libero Tori Wuthrich's 23, while Astrachan helped out Gebhard on the attack with 10 kills and a .212 hitting percentage.

New Paltz 3, Ramapo 0

The Hawks had an easier time with Ramapo in the nightcap, playing every rostered student-athlete en route to a 3-0 sweep. New Paltz finished with a .200 hitting percentage (34-15-95) and limited Ramapo to a .062 clip (29-22-113). Furthermore, the Hawks held a commanding 12-4 margin in service aces, five of which came from Herbst.

Sophomore outside hitter Katy Braddon (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy) keyed a balanced Hawk attack with seven kills, while Zwickl and Aquino paced the offense with 14 and 13 assists, respectively. Herbst tallied 17 digs to help out the New Paltz defense on the back row.

Ramapo's freshman outside hitter Layrsa Iwaskiw provided a large portion of the team's offense, finishing with 17 kills and a .204 hitting percentage. Junior setter Kaitlin Mac Iver collected 23 assists, while junior libero Emily Harris and sophomore setter/defensive specialist Natalia Saavedra tied for the team-high in digs with eight each.