Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NASHUA, N.H. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team recorded back-to-back wins over Rivier College and Mount Ida College in the 2016 Granite Challenge hosted by Rivier. The victories mark 10^th-year head coach Radu Petrus' 200^th win of his coaching career.

Under the direction of Petrus, the Hawks have won a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship (2014) and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice (2014 and 2015). In his career, he has twice had a student-athlete named the AVCA NCAA Division III Newcomer of the Year, and he has had three different student-athletes combine for five All-America honors. Petrus has placed 15 student-athletes on All-Conference teams and has coached a conference Rookie of the Year on four occasions. In addition, three of his student-athletes have been tabbed as All-UVC Honorable Mention honorees.
 
Senior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) also achieved a milestone, reaching the 2000 career-assist mark with his 47 assists against Rivier and five against Mount Ida for a total of 2,030, which currently stands fourth in the school record books.
 
The Hawks rise to 5-2 and next compete against NCAA Division I Sacred Heart University on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. Rivier concludes the day, 1-1, and will compete at the Kean Invitation from Friday-Saturday, Jan. 29-30. Mount Ida drops to 0-2 and will play Lehman College on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m.
 
New Paltz vs. Rivier, 3-1
 
New Paltz earned a .410 hitting percentage to win in four sets (25-18, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16) against the host Raiders.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) led the team with 12 kills while junior opposite Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and junior Steve Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) also added double figure kills for the Hawks. Bonilla and senior libero Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) defended with nine digs apiece.
 
For Rivier, sophomore opposite Grant Andler led with 15 points. Junior setter Tyler Blank notched 42 assists for the Raiders while sophomore outside hitter Garrett Bucklin defended with nine digs.
 
The teams remained locked in a close first set battle until New Paltz found its stride as senior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) served up three straight points for a 9-5 edge. The Hawks continued to build their lead before Rivier rallied on three kills at the midway point to bring the score within one.
 
New Paltz was able to evade the Raiders and knocked off Rivier with five consecutive points to take the set.
 
Rivier held a small lead early in the second session but the Hawks capitalized on several serves by Woessner to regain the lead. New Paltz pushed the pace throughout the set but sophomore middle hitter Matt Heckler notched a pair of kills to help the Raiders coral the score to 20-19. Still, the Hawks could not be stopped as they soared to a 25-22 triumph to lead 2-0.
 
Once again both teams found themselves in a close battle in the third set with New Paltz leveling the playing field with a 23-all score. However, Rivier would claim its first win of the match on a New Paltz attack error.
 
The Hawks were hot out of the gates in the final set, putting up a quick six points to force a Rivier timeout. New Paltz never looked back once as the Hawks easily cruised to a 25-16 win for the match victory.
 
New Paltz vs. Mount Ida, 3-0
 
The Hawks dominated all three sets (25-9, 25-17, 25-14) to grab their second win of the day and conclude with a .547 overall hitting percentage (33-4-53).
 
Junior opposite Joe Norman (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) paced the Hawks with nine kills, three services aces, three blocks and four digs to finish with a .750 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Mitchell Kennedy (Penfield, N.Y./Fairport) recorded 23 assists for New Paltz.
 
Senior setter Jimmy Wessel dished out 10 assists for the Mustangs while junior outside hitter Peter Griffenkranz registered four kills in the loss.