Box Score

HOBOKEN, N.J. – Battling the top-ranked team in Division III, the No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team fell at No. 1 Stevens 3-0 (24-26, 12-25, 22-25) in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action at Canavan Arena on Wednesday night.
 
With the defeat, the Hawks move to 6-2 overall, 2-1 in the UVC and will look to recover as New Paltz hosts No. 8 Springfield – the reigning, three-time National Champions – on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. The Ducks, meanwhile, improve to 9-3, 3-0 UVC and will head to the Midwest this weekend, playing No. 7 UC-Santa Cruz, No. 5 Carthage, Loras and Lakeland from Feb. 21-22 in Wisconsin.
 
Junior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) tallied a team-high 10 kills on a .400 hitting percentage (10-2-20). Smith also recorded a team-best 16 assists. Freshman outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) – who was named the UVC and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Rookie of the Week for the period ending Feb. 15 – and junior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) both notched seven kills apiece. Husmann registered a team-high .500 hitting percentage (7-2-10).
 
Senior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) registered four kills, 11 assists, three digs and one block assist as the Hawks were limited to a .170 hitting percentage for the match. New Paltz was plagued by 16 attack and service errors as well as five reception errors.
 
For Stevens, senior outside hitter David Evans tallied a match-high 12 kills behind a .571 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Tim Ferriter – who was a two-time All-American at New Paltz in 2013 and 2014 – tallied seven kills, seven digs, two block assists and one ace in his first meeting against the Hawks.
 
The first set was a back-and-forth affair with Stevens earning a 26-24 win. The Ducks went ahead 2-0 before kills by Lutjen and Smith knotted the contest at 2-2. The Hawks would earn a 9-7 lead following a kill by Husmann and attack error by Ferriter.
 
Stevens regained the lead 13-10 and the Hawks would get within one point on several occasions but could not inch closer. Trailing 19-17, Bonilla notched a kill and the Hawks used an attacking error by Stevens to knot the set at 19, forcing the home team to call a timeout.
 
Down the stretch, New Paltz was coerced to call both of its timeouts, trailing by one point each time to try and rally the troops. But Stevens found a way and handed the Hawks the tough opening set loss.
 
Set number two was all Stevens as the Hawks fell 25-12. New Paltz found themselves trailing 5-0 but responded nicely and climbed within 6-5, thanks to three straight points on junior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) serves. Unfortunately, the Hawks would not lead the entire set despite inching within two (12-10). From that moment, Stevens outscored New Paltz 13-2 to run away with the win.
 
The third set was definitely much closer but still the result was against New Paltz as the Hawks fell 25-22. Neither team earned more than a three-point lead until the match was tied at 14-14. Momentum shifted to Stevens as the Hawks were hurt by a controversial red card and yellow card and the Ducks went ahead 18-16.
 
New Paltz recovered and stayed composed, inching within one, 19-18. But Stevens remained too strong and held off any sort of Hawk rally and closed out the final set, 25-22.