Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MILWAUKEE – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team stretched its win streak to nine straight matches on Tuesday, defeating No. 15 Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 30-28) and Lakeland 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-23) at the Kern Center.
 
The Hawks improve to 16-3 overall and will wrap up their Midwest trip tomorrow evening at No. 8 Carthage at 7 p.m. (CDT). MSOE moves to 13-10 overall and will host No. 12 Dominican tomorrow at 7 p.m. (CDT) Lakeland falls to 12-14 and plays at Loras on Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m.
 
No. 3 New Paltz 3, No. 15 MSOE 1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 30-28)
 
Despite dropping the first set to the Raiders, the Hawks recovered and won the next three, including a 30-28 marathon fourth set. Against MSOE, New Paltz had four players finish with double-digit kills and two post double-digit digs.
 
The Hawks hit .273 (62-24-139) while limiting the Raiders to a .160 (41-21-125) outing. In the third set, New Paltz hit an eye-opening .500 while MSOE while plagued in the second and fourth sets, hitting .077 and .062, respectively.
 
Leading the attack was junior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) who recorded a match-high 14 kills to go along with six digs. Both freshman outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) and junior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) ended with 13 kills each.
 
Smith distributed 21 assists and provided nine digs and two total blocks. Bonilla, meanwhile, finished with a double-double, tallying 10 digs. Junior middle blocker Chirstopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), who was named the Sports Imports American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Week on Tuesday, recorded 10 kills, three digs, three assists and one service ace.
 
Junior libero Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) played great defensively, notching a season-high 17 digs. Senior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) registered a team-high 29 assists while tallying eight kills and seven digs.
 
Set number one was tied at 10-10 before the Raiders went on a 10-5 run to put the Hawks in a 20-15 hole. Trying to attempt a comeback, New Paltz crept within two (23-21) but could not overcome the spurt by MSOE.
 
The second set was another story, this time in favor of the Hawks. Much like the opening set, the contest was knotted at 12-12 when New Paltz went on a 8-3 run of their own to seize a 20-15 lead, scoring four points during this stretch on serves by sophomore middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa). The Hawks closed out the set 25-20 as Smith tallied two more kills down the stretch.
 
New Paltz jumped out of the gates in set number three, claiming a commanding 17-7 lead. Bonilla tallied four kills while Husmann recorded three in this hot start. The Hawks kept their foot on the gas and went ahead 23-13. Kills by Smith and Fishman earned the 25-16 set win for the Blue and Orange.
 
Following that quick win by the Hawks, the fourth set was an absolute marathon, extending to 30-28 in favor of New Paltz. After going ahead 11-8, scoring points on four-straight Smith serves, the Raiders caught up and got within one point (18-17).  The Hawks used a 5-1 run following this and earned a 23-18 lead, only two points away from winning the match. MSOE had other ideas and clawed back with several kills and attacking errors by New Paltz, which prompted the Hawks to take a break and regroup.
 
However, the Raiders eventually tied the set at 24-24. The teams traded points back and forth until a kill by Fishman gave the serve back to the Hawks leading 29-28 at match point. With Woessner serving, Smith gathered a pass from Lutjen and executed the final kill to give New Paltz the key non-conference win to help aid their strength of schedule.
 
No. 3 New Paltz 3, Lakeland 0
 
The Hawks only had one player finish in double-digit kills against the Muskies but limited Lakeland to a .139 hitting percentage to pick up its second win on Tuesday.
 
Husmann tallied a match-high 11 kills behind a .471 hitting percentage (11-3-17). Smith just missed out on double-digits with nine kills, but distributed a team-high 18 assists while tallying five digs and four total blocks. Woesnner contributed seven kills, Lutjen dished out 16 assists and Bonilla played strong defense with 11 digs. Both Woessner and Bonilla finished with two service aces.
 
Early on the first set, Lakeland was leading by a slim margin but the Hawks earned the serve back and eventually went ahead 13-9. However, three straight attacking errors by New Paltz knotted the game up at 13-13. Going ahead once again by three (19-16), the Hawks picked up three kills and enjoyed two attacking errors by the Muskies to take set one, 25-19.
 
New Paltz burst out to a 8-3 lead in set number two, forcing Lakeland to recharge and take a timeout. Following the breather, the Hawks remained in control and increased the lead to 19-13. Again a quick Muskie run brought Lakeland within three (19-16) and the Hawks would let their opponent get as close as two points (22-20). Leading 23-20, senior Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and Husmann both notched kills to end the threat.
 
The third and final set once again began in favor of New Paltz, with the Hawks going ahead 5-2, scoring points on four-straight Bonilla serves. As was the trend for the match, Lakeland recovered and knotted the set at 10-10, eventually earning the lead 16-13. From this moment, the Hawks went on a 12-7 run, using four attacking errors and three service mistakes by Lakeland to close out the match.