Box Score

RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Six players finished with at least six kills as the No. 4 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team defeated No. 12 Dominican 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) on Monday night in the Igini Sports Forum.
 
The Hawks have now rattled off eight-straight wins and improve to 14-3 overall. New Paltz will prepare to play in the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Tri-Match tomorrow evening, playing the host Raiders at 4 p.m. (CDT) and Lakeland at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Stars had a four-match winning streak snapped and fall to 11-8. Dominican will battle MSOE on Wednesday, March 18 at 7 p.m. (CDT).
 
Both freshman outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) and junior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) led the offense with nine kills apiece. Husmann, who leads Division III in hitting percentage, finished the match with a .538 mark (9-2-13). The junior also contributed three total blocks, four assists and one ace.
 
Junior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) followed with eight kills, hitting .571 (8-0-14). Both junior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and senior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) tallied seven kills. Smith hit .500 (7-1-12) while registering 17 assists, six digs, three block assists and one ace. Lutjen distributed a team-high 20 assists to go along with three total blocks and three digs.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) rounded out the attack with six kills on six swings, while nothcing three digs, two total blocks, two assists and one ace.
 
For the match, the Hawks hit .415 (46-12-82) and were a force on the net, with 11 total team blocks. New Paltz hit a blazing .583 in the opening set and .448 in set number two. For Dominican, Mason Solbrig –who is second in the nation in hitting percentage behind Husmann - hit .417 for the evening (7-2-12).
 
New Paltz controlled the opening set, bursting out to a 17-9 lead with four kills by Bonilla and three by Fishman during this spurt. The Stars trimmed the edge down to five (18-13) using a 4-1 run but the Hawks closed the door as Husmann executed the set-clinching kill.
 
The second set was a little tighter early on, knotted up at 11, before the Hawks went on a 5-1 run using three kills by Smith to go ahead 16-12. However, the Stars remained in the set by cut the New Paltz advantage down to one (17-16), using a 5-0 burst. But from that moment, the Hawks went on an 8-3 tear as Lutjen and Woessner both tallied two kills to give the Blue and Orange a comfortable 2-0 lead.
 
The third and final set was the closest of the night, with Dominican taking control early on with a 13-12 edge. New Paltz rattled off three straight points on two separate occasions to go ahead 19-16.
 
After the Hawks gained a 23-20 lead, Dominican decided to call a timeout. Following the break, New Paltz was staring at match-point (24-20) but allowed the Stars to get right back in to the set with three points, prompting the Hawks to use both of their timeouts. But a kill by Bonilla ended the drought and sealed the three-set win for the Hawks, as New Paltz has opened up its Midwest spring break trip 2-0.