NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team travels to Hoboken, N.J. on Wednesday, Feb. 18 to play United Volleyball Conference (UVC) rival No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology at 7 p.m.
RECORDS: New Paltz is currently ranked third in Division III and holds a 6-1 overall record (2-0 UVC) and 3-1 away record… Stevens is ranked No. 1 in Division III with an 8-3 overall record (2-0 UVC) and 2-1 home mark.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (6-1, 2-0): New Paltz defeated the Penn State- Behrend Lions and No. 12 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Engineers on Saturday Feb. 14 in the start of UVC crossover play… New Paltz defeated No. 12 MIT 3-0 and Behrend 3-1… Against No. 12 MIT, freshman outside hitter
Anthony Bonilla led the team with a match-high nine kills… Senior setter
John Lutjen recorded eight kills and a match-high .500 hitting percentage (8-1-15), 19 assists, two digs, and three total blocks… Senior outside hitter
Gus Gregory notched eight kills, three digs, and a hitting percentage of .417 (8-3-12)… Junior middle blocker
Christopher Husmann recorded six kills and three total blocks and sophomore middle blocker
Steven Woessner tallied five kills, three digs, three block assists, one ace, and one assist… Junior setter
Christian Smith registered four kills, five digs, and 18 assists… New Paltz held MIT to a negative hitting percentage (-.045) and forced 18 attacking errors… Against the Lions, Bonilla again led the team with 19 kills, eight digs, one ace, and one solo block… Sophomore opposite
Jake Roessler notched 14 kills and four digs… Husmann and freshman middle blocker
Nick Denoncourt both tallied seven kills and a .545 hitting percentage (7-1-11)… Junior outside hitter
Andy Fishman added six kills and seven digs while junior libero
Kevin Nardone recorded a match-high 10 digs… The Hawks outhit Behrend .382 to .186 and hit over .400 in the third and fourth sets.
STATISTICAL LEADERSKills: Bonilla (3.23 per set), Husmann (2.48 per set), Smith (1.87 per set)
Hitting Percentage: Husmann (.465), Bonilla (.372),
Misa Garo (.333)
Assists: Garo (6.00 per set), Smith (5.65 per set), Lutjen (5.35 per set)
Service Aces: Woessner (0.46 per set), Lutjen (0.35 per set), Bonilla (0.27 per set)
Digs: Nardone (2.50 per set), Steven Gassert (2.00 per set), Bonilla (1.35 per set)
Blocks: Wossener (1.00 per set), Husmann (0.88 per set), Smith (0.78 per set)
TEAM STATISTICS: The Hawks are currently ranked third in the UVC for hitting percentage (.308) and first in opponent hitting percentage (.121)… New Paltz is ranked first in assists per set (12.69), opponent assists per set (7.42), kills per set (13.42), and opponent kills per set (7.96)… New Paltz is also third in the conference in blocks (2.38 per set).
SCOUTING THE DUCKS (8-3, 2-0): Stevens knocked off Bard and No. 7 Nazareth in its first UVC matches this past weekend… Against Bard, the Ducks hit .508 compared to the Raptors (-.136)… Senior outside hitter/defensive specialist David Evans led with 10 kills and four aces… Junior outside hitter Chris Vaughan recorded seven kills, nine digs, two aces, and two blocks… Senior setter Kevin Aeckerle dished out 16 assists in his return after missing the last five matches… Junior setter John Eddins recorded 10 assists and two blocks… Against No. 7 Nazareth, the Ducks were outhit .319 to .292, but still managed to take the win… Evans and junior outside hitter
Tim Ferriter notched 15 kills respectively with two and four aces…Seifert tallied 10 kills, 10 digs, three aces, and two blocks while senior libero Dylan Schlosser had eight digs.
STATISTICAL LEADERSKills: Evans (3.52 per set), Seifert (3.21 per set), Ferriter (3.08 per set)
Hitting Percentage: Vaughan (.415), Ferriter (.333), Evans (.323)
Assists: Aeckerle (8.60 per set), Eddins (8.23 per set)
Services Aces: Gabe Shankweiler (0.75 per set), Evans (0.56 per set), Vaughan (0.42 per set)
Digs: Schlosser (2.22 per set), Seifert (1.90 per set), Vaughan (1.74 per set)
Blocks: Ryan Brandow (1.88 per set), Etan Bennett (1.10 per set), Seifert (.76 per set)
TEAM STATISITICS: In the UVC, Stevens ranks second in hitting percentage (.314) and assists per set (11.53)… The Ducks rank second in kills per set (12.68) and service aces per set (1.97)… Stevens ranks third in digs per set (9.66).
LAST MEETING: The Hawks defeated Stevens 3-0 when these two teams last met in the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament in Huntington, Pa. on April 25, 2014.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Hawks host three-time defending national champion Springfield on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.… The Ducks travel to Kenosha, Wisc. on Saturday, Feb. 21 to battle No. 8 University of California-Santa Cruz at 3 p.m. CDT and No. 6 Carthage at 5 p.m. CDT… On Sunday, Feb. 22, Stevens travels to Plymouth, Wisc. to take on Loras at 1 p.m. CDT and Lakeland at 3 p.m. CDT.
