Box Score NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team extended its winning streak to 16 straight matches on Wednesday night, defeating visiting No. 10 Baruch 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) at the Hawk Center.
With the victory, the Hawks improve to 22-3 overall and 7-1 at home. New Paltz will travel to the Springfield College Tournament from April 3-4, competing against Southern Vermont, Ramapo and No. 6 Springfield. Baruch moves to 19-7 and will compete at the Elmira Tournament from April 3-4.
Junior outside hitter
Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) led all players with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .379 (15-4-29). Both junior middle blocker
Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and senior setter
John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) both floored nine kills apiece. Husmann, who leads all of NCAA Division III in hitting percentage, notched a .692 mark (9-0-13) while Lutjen enjoyed a .467 clip (9-2-15) while adding 18 assists and five digs.
Junior setter
Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and sophomore middle blocker
Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) enjoyed seven and five kills, respectively. Smith delivered 18 assists while Woessner registered two total blocks at the net. Junior libero
Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) played great defensively with a match-high 14 digs.
For the Bearcats, Brian Coniglio distributed a match-high 24 assists as Baruch hit just .195 (28-13-77) and was plagued by 31 total errors on the night.
Baruch jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set but New Paltz quickly responded and climbed within one (6-5). Following a Husmann kill, the junior received the serve and helped New Paltz tally four-straight points to go ahead 10-7, forcing the Bear Cats to take a timeout.
Baruch battled back and came within one (11-10) but kills by Smith, Husmann and Fishman gave the Hawks a 16-13 lead. The Bearcats clawed to within one point again (19-18) but New Paltz remained ahead after a kill by Woessner. Following kills by Lutjen and Fishman, the Hawks were sitting at set point when the Bearcats called their final timeout. Out of the break, New Paltz enjoyed an attacking error by Baruch to take the opening set.
New Paltz took control of the second set in the beginning, claiming a 6-2 lead and scoring points on two kills by Fishman. Baruch started to get closer, however, and knotted the set at 8-8. But from this point, the Hawks regained control once again and rattled off five unanswered points on freshman outside hitter
Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) serves to take a commanding 13-8 lead.
But the Hawks allowed Baruch to get right back into the match by committing four straight errors and making the score 13-12. A pair of kills by Lutjen gave the Hawks some breathing room at 18-15 before the Bearcats came within two points on two occasions but New Paltz remained too strong and closed out the set with an ace by senior defensive specialist
Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and a kill by Lutjen.
The final set started back-and-forth with neither team gaining more than a two-point cushion until senior outside hitter
Gus Gregory (Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas) earned the serve and helped the Hawks score five straight points to go ahead 17-12.
Baruch looked to rally and came within two (19-17) using a 5-2 run and got to within one point (22-21) but the Hawks were able to take care of business and used kills by Husmann and Lutjen to extend the team's winning streak to 16 matches.
