NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team will host The Sage Colleges on Wednesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. at the Hawk Center.
RECORDS: The No. 3 Hawks have a 24-4 overall and 7-1 home record… The Gators are 9-17 overall with a 2-7 away record.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (24-4): This will be the last home game this season for the Hawks and New Paltz will honor its three seniors in a pre-game ceremony… In the recent weekend, the Hawks went 2-1 in the Springfield Invitational… The Hawks defeated both Southern Vermont (3-1) and Ramapo College (3-2), but lost in a five setter to Springfield College (3-2)… In the Southern Vermont match, New Paltz held the Mountaineers to a 0.93 hitting percentage and forced 31 total errors… Freshman setter
Mitchell Kennedy led the way for the Hawks with a double-double with 11 kills and 16 assists, while also hitting .444 on the night… Junior outside hitter
Andy Fishman recorded nine kills, five digs, and hit .571… Senior defensive specialist
Misa Garo also claimed a double-double with 21 assists, 10 digs, five kills, and one block assist… In the victory over Ramapo, junior setter
Christian Smith and senior setter
John Lutjen finished with double-doubles… Smith tallied 17 kills and 17 assists, while Lutjen finished with 10 kills and 35 assists… Junior libero
Kevin Nardone led on the defensive end with 13 digs in the match… In the tough loss against Springfield, the Hawks were led by junior middle blocker Christopher Husman,n who had 13 kills and seven total blocks… Fishman, sophomore middle blocker
Steven Woessner, and freshman outside hitter
Anthony Bonilla all finished with 11 kills each… Smith and Nardone helped on the defensive end by claiming eight digs each.
STATISTICAL LEADERSKills: Husmann (2.64 per set), Bonilla (2.44 per set), Smith (2.39 per set)
Hitting Percentage: Husmann (.525), Woessner (.359), Smith (.342)
Assists: Smith (5.44 per set), Lutjen (5.40 per set), Kennedy (4.71 per set)
Service Aces: Woessner (.35 per set), Fishman (.29 per set), Lutjen (.28 per set)
Digs: Nardone (2.44 per set), Bonilla (1.41 per set), Smith (1.39 per set)
Blocks: Husmann (.76 per set), Woessner (.74 per set), Smith 0.60 per set)
TEAM STATISTICS: The Hawks are first in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) for hitting percentage (.329), assists (12.55 per set), and kills (13.30 per set)… New Paltz is also second in the conference for service aces (1.81 per set)… The Hawks also led the nation in assists per set with 12.55… New Paltz is second in Division III for win-loss percentage (88.5 percent)… Husmann also leads the nation in hitting percentage (.525).
SCOUTING THE GATORS (9-17): The Gators are coming off a pair of losses from this past weekend against York (N.Y.) (1-3), and Vassar (0-3)… In the loss against York College, the Gators were led by freshman outside hitter Bailey Cecchi who recorded 12 kills with a .250 attack percentage… Freshman setter Tyler Bastos had 31 assists and six digs… Senior middle hitter Juan Polanco claimed six kills while senior Thaddeus Sipe added four kills, two aces, and two block assists… As a team, the Gators had six aces, and 52 total kills…. In the match against Vassar, Cecchi had eight kills and two digs… Freshman Ryan Guyton claimed six kills, three aces, seven digs, and two block assists… As a whole, the Gators had 26 digs, three aces, and 23 kills in the loss against Vassar.
STATISTICAL LEADERSKills: Cecchi (2.66 per set), Guyton (1.78 per set), Macarthur (1.27 per set)
Hitting Percentage: Polanco (.243), Guyton (.213), Bastos (.205)
Assists: Bastos (6.59 per set)
Service Aces: Guyton (.48 per set), Cecchi (.24 per set), Sipe (.20 per set)
Digs: Fitzpatrick (2.71 per set), Cecchi (1.69 per set), Guyton (1.62 per set)
Blocks: Guyton (.56 per set), Polanco (.46 per set), Macarthur (.42 per set)
TEAM STATISTICS: The Gators are currently ranked fifth in the Skyline Conference for hitting percentage (.181), assists (8.47 per set), and kills (9.27 per set)… Sage is in fourth for blocks (1.43 per set) and fifth for service aces (1.49 per set).
LAST MEETING: New Paltz defeated Sage 3-0 when these two teams last met on April 4, 2014.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Hawks are playing either Nazareth or Vassar in the UVC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m. at host Stevens…. Sage's season comes to an end after facing New Paltz.
