Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - Playing its final home match of the season, the No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team defeated the visiting Sage Colleges 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-21) on Wednesday night at the Hawk Center, the final tune-up match before competing in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Tournament from April 10-12.

New Paltz honored its three senior members - outside hitter Gus Gregory (Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas), defensive specialist Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West)- in a pre-match ceremony before their final match at the Hawk Center.
With the victory, the Hawks conclude the regular season 25-4 overall and earned the No. 2 seed in the UVC playoffs with a 7-1 league mark. New Paltz will face either No. 3 seed Nazareth or No. 6 seed Vassar in the semifinals on Saturday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m. The entire tournament will take place at No. 1 Stevens. The Gators, meanwhile, conclude their season with a 9-18 record.

The Hawks hit .457 for the match (44-12-70), including a staggering .556 mark in the opening set. New Paltz limited Sage to just 46 attack attempts and a .043 hitting percentage (13-11-46) on the night.

All three senior members led the way as Lutjen notched a double-double with a match-high 10 kills - hitting .643 (10-1-4) - while delivering 18 assists. The setter also floored a match-best four service aces and chipped in three digs and three total blocks.

Gregory followed with nine kills while Garo chipped in five kills, a match-high 19 assists, five digs, three aces and two solo blocks. Five players finished with at least five kills for the Hawks as freshman middle blocker Ryan Cole (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) and junior defensive specialist Chris Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) both notched five apiece.

The Hawks controlled the opening set from the beginning serve and jumped out to a commanding 17-5 lead, scoring points on three Lutjen aces. The set was executed by a kill from Gregory to give New Paltz the 25-12 win.
The Gators claimed a 3-0 lead in the second set but the Hawks recovered and gained a 12-10 advantage following another kill by Gregory. Sage hung around, however, and got within one point (18-17) before New Paltz turned on the jets and used a pair of kills by junior Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) to go ahead 23-18. Two attacking errors by the Gators closed out set number two.

The third and final set was back-and-forth for the entirety as neither team claimed more than a two-point lead. With the contest tied at 18, the Hawks earned the serve and rattled off four points on kills by Lilley, Lutjen and Cole to take a 22-18 edge. Sage climbed to within two points (23-21) before New Paltz closed out the match with kills from Cole and Lutjen.