Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The No.5 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team defeated No. 8 Nazareth 3-2 (25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11) and host Vassar (32-30, 25-18, 25-21) in the second United Volleyball Conference (UVC) crossover weekend on Saturday at Kenyon Hall.
 
With the pair of wins, the Hawks improve to 11-4 overall and 4-1 UVC. New Paltz will take on UVC foe New York University on Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m. The Golden Flyers move to 19-4, 2-2 UVC and will prepare for conference opponent Penn State Behrend on Thursday, March 19 at 7 p.m. The Brewers move to 11-10, 0-4 UVC and will head to Endicott on Friday, March 13 at 5 p.m.
 
No. 5 New Paltz 3, No. 8 Nazareth 2
 
Saturday's battle between two top-10 programs lived up to the expectations as the Hawks held off the Golden Flyers in five sets. The match went back and forth with Nazareth earning a 2-1 lead but New Paltz came back and held on the key conference win.
 
Junior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and senior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) both recorded 15 kills apiece. Lutjen led the match with a .682 hitting percentage (15-0-22) while tallying 19 assits, three digs and three block assists. Smith, meanwhile, recorded a hitting percentage of .542 (15-2-24) to go along with a team-high 24 assists, seven digs and three service aces.
 
Collectively, the Hawks hit .309 (57-19-123) including a .389 mark in set one and a .600 mark in the final set. Both teams had eight total blocks.
 
Junior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa)  tallied 11 kills on a .611 hitting percentage (11-0-18) as the Division III leader in hitting percentage also recorded three total blocks and two service aces. Junior libero Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) led the defense with 10 digs.
 
Junior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) played well off the bench, finishing with eight kills on a .412 hitting percentage (8-1-17) to go along with eight digs, two aces, one assist and one block assist.
 
In the day's opening set, the Hawks stormed out to commanding 7-2 lead, scoring points on four-straight Husmann serves. After New Paltz took a 10-5 lead, the Golden Flyers got within four (12-8) but back-to-back aces by Husmann extended the Hawk advantage to 16-8.
 
Nazareth cut the lead down to four again (17-13) but the New Paltz offense proved to be too much, outscoring the Golden Flyers 8-2 to close out the set, capped off by an ace by Smith, to win 25-15.
 
But Nazareth responded in the second set and handed New Paltz a 25-21 defeat. Despite leading 11-6, the Hawks could not seal the deal and allowed the Golden Flyers to take set two.
 
The Hawks had a 13-8 lead but an 8-0 flurry by Nazareth put New Paltz in a 16-13 hole. Trying to bounce back, the Hawks climbed within one point on two occasions (17-18, 21-22) but Nazareth was able to close out the set.
 
The third set started exactly opposite of set two as Nazareth jumped out to an 8-4 lead and were ahead 10-5 before New Paltz decided to call a timeout. From the point, the Hawks enjoyed a 5-1 spurt, thanks to two kills by Lutjen, to get within one, 10-11. The Hawks claimed their first lead of the third set after senior Gus Gregory tallied a service ace to give New Paltz a 13-12 edge.
 
Nazareth answered and went ahead 18-15 before the Hawks used a 5-2 run to knot the set at 20. Trailing 20-22, New Paltz received another kill by Lutjen and an attacking error by the Golden Flyers to again tie the contest at 22. Fishman foiund the floor with another ace to give the Hawks a slim 23-22 lead, but Nazareth ripped off three-straight points to end the set.
 
Set number four began in favor of Nazareth, as the Golden Flyers claimed a 5-0 lead. But the Hawks remained diligent and went on a 10-2 run to gain a 10-7 advantage. The Hawks earn five-straight points on Smith serves during this stretch. However, Nazareth recovered and inched within one, 15-14.
 
After surrendering the lead (16-17), New Paltz again scored four-consecutive points on Smith serves to claim a 21-17 cushion. Another spurt by the Golden Flyers brought the set within one (23-22) but a service ace by senior setter/defensive specialist Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) closed out the set as New Paltz knotted the contest at 2-2.
 
The Hawks used that momentum in the fourth set to win the final set, 15-11. Despite trailing early on 2-5, New Paltz rattled off six unanswered points – again on Smith serves – to go ahead 8-5 at the turn. Down the stretch, Smith and Husmann provided two kills apiece to take the UVC showdown.
 
No. 5 New Paltz 3, Vassar 0
 
The Hawks defeated the Brewers in straight sets despite battling Vassar to a 32-30 first set victory, the first set to reach the 30-point threshold for New Paltz since Feb. 9, 2013 against No. 11 Elmira (also won the set 32-30).
 
Smith recorded a match-high 10 kills on a match-best .667 hitting percentage (10-0-15). The junior also tallied 15 assists, three digs, two block assists and one ace. Fishman registered eight kills, three aces, two digs and one block assist.
 
Both Lutjen and sophomore middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) tallied six kills apiece with Lutjen providing 19 assists and Woessner six block assists.
 
Freshman outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) tallied a team-high four aces to go along with eight digs, four kills, two block assists and one assist.
 
Both New Paltz and Vassar enjoyed nice hitting percentages in the opening set (.353 and .333, respectively). But the Hawks held the Brewers to a .000 and .059 percentage in the last two sets.
 
In the opening marathon set, the Brewers led 3-1 before the Hawks stormed back and wetn ahead 10-7. Vassar knotted the set at 11 but New Paltz responded with an 8-2 spurt to seize a 19-13 lead.
 
Despite sitting at set point (24-19), the Hawks surrendered five unanswered points to Vassar as the Brewers tied it up at 24.The set went back-and-forth, extending past 30 points before New Paltz ended the contest with kills by Fishman and Bonilla.
 
With both teams trying to recover after the lengthy opener, the second set started closely and was knotted at 13 before the Hawks went ahead 18-13, scoring on four straight Bonilla serves. Vassar got within three (20-17) but New Paltz closed the door on set two with kills by Smith and Lutjen down the stretch.
 
The third and final set was much like set two, starting out close before the Hawks started to pull away. Knotted at 12, New Paltz went ahead 15-13. However, Vassar responded and claimed a slim, 18-16 edge. With the set tied at 19, New Paltz went on a 6-2 spurt to end the match, using three attacking errors by Vassar in the process.