Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team split on the final day of the MIT Tournament on Saturday, defeating St. Lawrence University, 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-17), before falling to host and 23rd-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-15).
 
For their efforts throughout the weekend, junior liberos Meg Kinee (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) and Anna Paulik (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
New Paltz moves to 16-8 overall with the results and hosts the final State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Pool Play of the season from Friday-Saturday, Oct. 23-24, at the Hawk Center. St. Lawrence drops to 13-14 and hosts a Liberty League Pool Play next on Friday, Oct. 23, while MIT rises to 23-1 and next visits Babson College on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m.
 
New Paltz 3, St. Lawrence 0
 
New Paltz overcame a slow start early against St. Lawrence and ended up hitting .305 for the match while limiting the Saints to .138 hitting.
 
St. Lawrence hopped out to an 11-5 lead in the first, and after the two teams traded points, the Hawks scored three straight to draw within three at 13-10. Following two Saint points, New Paltz rallied to score seven unanswered to take a 17-15 advantage. Back-and-forth play ensued down the stretch, and despite two straight St. Lawrence points to make it a one-point score (24-23), sophomore setter Maddie Zwickl (Chester, N.Y./Warwick Valley) floored a kill to give the Hawks a 25-23 set win.
 
Neither the second nor the third sets were close, as New Paltz scored points in bunches to pull out the straight-set victory.
 
In addition to holding the upper hand in hitting percentage, the Hawks finished with a 9-5 cushion in service aces. St. Lawrence, however, outblocked New Paltz by a 4-2 margin.
 
Senior outside hitter Becca Borquist (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) led the Hawk offense with 10 kills, while Zwickl dished out 36 assists and landed six service aces. Junior libero Rachel Pierson (Middletown, N.Y./Minisink Valley) defended 15 digs to pace the back row defensively.
 
For St. Lawrence, sophomore outside hitter Masha Kolesnikova and freshman middle hitter/outside hitter Grace Kelly led the way with seven kills each, while sophomore setter/defensive specialist Katie Kull handed out 20 assists. Senior libero Mariah Dignan and Kolesnikova paced the defense with 16 and 11 digs, respectively.
 
No. 23 MIT 3, New Paltz 1
 
Despite taking the first set, 25-22, and holding a 19-17 lead in the second, New Paltz was unable to hold off MIT, which has just one loss on the season.
 
Neither team was able to sustain momentum during the first set, but after a Paulik kill and an Engineer attacking error, the Hawks took a 23-20 lead. The two sides traded points until Borquist ended the set with a termination.
 
Large runs from both sides marked the second set, as MIT used four unanswered points to take a 16-14 lead before New Paltz scored five of the next six points to post a 19-17 edge. Following an Engineer timeout, MIT scored eight straight to end the set.
 
MIT scored points in bunches in the third set, scoring five straight points to take a 14-7 lead and four consecutive points to seize a 22-12 advantage. The deficit ultimately was too large for the Hawks to overcome, as the Engineers pulled out a 25-16 victory in the third.
 
Finally, an eight-point outburst by MIT early in the fourth set gave the home team an 11-3 advantage it would not relinquish. The Engineers capped off the stanza with four unanswered points.
 
MIT posted a .219 hitting percentage, while New Paltz hit .083 for the match. The Engineers finished with a 7-3 margin in service aces, while both teams tallied six total team blocks.
 
Borquist ignited the New Paltz attack with 18 kills and added 13 digs to complete the double-double, while Zwickl distributed 32 assists. Kinee shored up the back row defensively with 15 digs, while Pierson and Paulik added 13 and 12, respectively.
 
For MIT, junior outside hitter Megan Gebhard keyed the offense with 14 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Lisette Tellez and freshman outside hitter Abby Bertics chipped in with 10 apiece. Freshman setter Fiona Tanuwidjaja kept the offense moving with 41 assists, while Tellez completed the double-double with 25 digs.