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NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team split on the final day of the 13th-annual Hawks Invitational Saturday at the Hawk Center, defeating Mount Saint Mary College, 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 26-24), before dropping a 3-1 (27-25, 18-25, 27-25, 25-17) decision to Stockton University in the nightcap.
 
New Paltz finished at 3-1 at the event, while Stockton captured the invitational title as the only team to go 4-0 on the weekend. SUNY Fredonia went 3-1, New York University went 2-2 and both Mount Saint Mary and The Sage Colleges went 0-4.
 
Sophomore libero Veronica Matedero (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) served as New Paltz's representative on the All-Tournament Team. Stockton's junior libero Rebecka Zabilowicz was tabbed as the Tournament MVP, while the remainder of the All-Tournament Team was comprised of junior middle hitter Idi Uffen from Stockton, senior middle hitter Jessica DiChristopher from Fredonia, junior outside hitter Siena Wilder from Sage, senior middle hitter Nicole Frias from NYU and senior libero Jennifer Gries from Mount Saint Mary.
 
New Paltz moved to 4-5 overall on the season with Saturday's results and will look to reach the .500 mark again on Wednesday, Sept. 16, when it visits the Stevens Institute of Technology for a 7 p.m. match.
 
New Paltz 3, Mount Saint Mary 0
 
Fourteen different student-athletes took to the court for the Hawks against Mount Saint Mary, and a close third set nearly broke up the straight-set sweep for New Paltz.
 
New Paltz limited Mount Saint Mary to a .000 hitting percentage for the match, though the Knights were hitting at a negative clip until a .116 performance in the third stanza brought them up out of the negatives. The Hawks finished with a 15-3 edge in service aces, but the Knights held the upper hand in blocks, 6-2.
 
Freshman outside hitter Marissa Contelmo (Wallkill, N.Y./Wallkill) paced a balanced attack with six kills and a .200 hitting percentage, while junior outside hitter Anna Paulik (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and junior middle hitter Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) each finished with five terminations. Sophomore setters Melannie Aquino (Billerica, Mass./Burlington) and Maddie Zwickl (Chester, N.Y./Warwick Valley) shared the setting duties and handed out 19 and 10 assists, respectively, while Aquino and Contelmo dominated at the service line with six and five aces, respectively. Defensively, junior libero Meg Kinee (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) provided a team-high 14 digs, while Contelmo added 12.
 
For Mount Saint Mary, five student-athletes tied for a team-high three kills, while freshman setter Kim Gries issued seven assists. Defensively, Jen Gries accumulated a match-high 23 digs, while freshman middle hitter Jen Hanley totaled three blocks.
 
Stockton 3, New Paltz 1
 
Stockton prevailed in an offensive slugfest between two of the New York Region's top teams in recent memory, with the Ospreys holding a .364-to-.301 edge in hitting percentage. Stockton floored 13 aces to New Paltz's eight, while both teams had four blocks apiece.
 
Back-and-forth play dominated the first set, but the Ospreys wound up scoring three straight points late to stake themselves to a 22-20 lead. New Paltz tied the score off back-to-back kills from junior right side Katy Braddon (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy), and after the two teams sided each other out twice, Roessler brought up set point with a kill. Stockton bounced back, though, scoring three consecutive points to pull out a 27-25 win in the first.
 
The two sides battled early once again in the second, but the Hawks began to pull away after scoring points in bunches midway through the set, as they went on a pair of 3-0 runs to seize a 20-14 advantage. The Ospreys scored three of the next four points before New Paltz received a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Becca Borquist (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) and an ace from Kinee to post a 24-17 lead. An attacking error gave the Ospreys the serve back, but junior middle hitter Brittany Tyack (Commack, N.Y./Commack) landed a kill to hand the Hawks a 25-18 triumph in the second.
 
The third set appeared destined to go Stockton's way, as the visitors hopped out to a decisive 11-3 advantage early. After a Braddon kill gave New Paltz the serve back, the Hawks relied on a strong performance by Borquist at the service line, scoring seven more unanswered points to tie the score at 11-all. From that point forward, the momentum never teetered much in either direction, but Stockton did benefit from scoring two straight points late to pick up a 24-23 lead. New Paltz tied the score twice more before the Ospreys relied on a kill and a block by Uffen to eke out a 27-25 win in the third.
 
New Paltz played well early in the fourth, leading by as many as four points in the early goings of the set. Stockton pulled away with nine consecutive points, though, with the scoring spree ending with a 19-13 Osprey edge. The Hawks were unable to score off their own serve the rest of the frame, and Stockton took the set and the match with a 25-17 victory in the fourth.
 
Borquist and Braddon ignited the New Paltz offense with 17 and 15 kills, respectively, while Zwickl distributed 51 assists. Defensively, Kinee defended nine digs, while Roessler posted four total blocks.
 
For Stockton, sophomore right side Stephanie Kovacs and Uffen landed 15 and 13 kills, respectively, while senior setter Shannon Clark and sophomore setter Jessica Ciandella handed out 23 assists apiece. Zabilowicz kept New Paltz on its toes with 14 digs and seven service aces.