Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - Before heading to the Midwest over spring break, the No. 4 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team handed No. 10 New York University a 3-0 United Volleyball Conference (UVC) defeat (25-14, 25-19, 25-21) on Thursday night in the Hawk Center.

With the victory, the Hawks now hold sole possession of second place in the UVC with a 5-1 league mark and improve to 12-3 overall, winners of the past six matches. New Paltz will head to Illinois and Wisconsin from March 15-18, first playing at Benedictine on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. (CDT). The Violets fall to 10-6, 4-2 UVC and will play four different teams in Buffalo, N.Y. from March 21-22.

For the match, New Paltz hit an eye-opening .403 (43-12-77) and limited NYU to a .188 hitting percentage (25-13-64). The Hawks hit a staggering .524 in the opening set and followed that up with .400 and .323 hitting performances in sets number two and three.

Junior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), who leads Division III in hitting percentage, had another superb outing finishing with a match-high 11 kills and a .786 hitting percentage (11-0-14). The junior also finished with two block assists and one service ace to his credit.

Freshman outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) tallied nine kills behind a .438 hitting percentage (9-2-16), while recording two aces, two digs and one block assist. Junior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), flirted with a triple-double, tallying a team-high 18 assists and nine digs while registering six kills, hitting .455 (6-1-11), including the 500th of his career.

Sophomore middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) and senior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) both tallied six kills and junior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) tallied five kills and a match-high three service aces.

The first set started fairly close, as the contest was knotted at 9-9. But Fishman received the serve and helped New Paltz rattle off eight unanswered points to give the Hawks a commanding 17-9 advantage. NYU could not recover after this run and the Hawks closed out the set, thanks to three kills by Fishman.

The second stanza began much like the first, being tied at 10-10 before New Paltz would go on a nice spurt. The Hawks outscored the Violets 5-1 during this stretch, forcing NYU to call a timeout. Out of the break, the Violets climbed to within one (15-14) but New Paltz responded and claimed a 20-17 lead thanks to several kills by Bonilla. Following another stoppage by NYU, New Paltz closed out set number two with a Husmann kill and two NYU attacking errors.

The third and final set began in favor of the home team, as the Hawks jumped out to a 7-3 start, capped off by an ace from junior defensive specialist Chris Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville). NYU responded, however, and closed the gap to one (12-11).

The set went back-and-forth with the Hawks never claiming more than a two-point cushion until the final stretch. Following an NYU timeout leading 21-19, New Paltz used three attacking errors by the Violets and executed the match on a kill by Smith.