Box Score

Photo Gallery (Courtesy of Sam Cherubin, Brockport)

BROCKPORT, N.Y. – The 2016 season came to an end on Saturday for the women's volleyball team at the State University of New York at New Paltz as the No. 3-seeded Hawks fell to No. 1 seed Brockport 3-1 (21-25, 19-25, 26-24, 14-25) in the SUNYAC Championship match inside the Jim & John Vlogiantis Gymnasium.

New Paltz concludes the year with a 19-14 record while the Golden Eagles improve to 32-3 and clinch the SUNYAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. This was the eighth time that New Paltz played in the title tilt and the fourth-consecutive year the Hawks played for the SUNYAC title, last winning in 2014.

Senior outside hitter Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) tallied a team-high 13 kills in her final match as a Hawk. Classmate Anna Paulik (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) registered 15 digs and five kills, senior middle hitter Brittany Tyack (Commack, NY/Commack) enjoyed seven kills, senior Chantal Ramhorst (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) notched six kills and three aces and senior libero Meg Kinee (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) registered five digs in their last action for New Paltz.
 

Junior libero Veronica Matedero (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) contributed 30 digs on the defensive end while junior setter Maddie Zwickl (Chester, NY/Warwick Valley) notched a double-double with 35 assists and 16 digs. Freshman libero Nicole Fellone (Centereach, NY/Centereach) chipped in 14 digs. For their efforts during the postseason, both Roessler and Zwickl were named to the All-Tournament Team.

In the first set, the contest was knotted at 11-11 before Brockport went on an 8-2 run to put the Hawks behind 19-13. Trailing 21-17, New Paltz rallied behind two Golden Eagle errors and an ace from freshman Meghan Keyes (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) to climb to within one, 21-20. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles closed out the set on a 4-1 run to win the opener.

Brockport jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set number two before a 5-2 spurt by New Paltz cut that deficit to just one. The Hawks managed to claim a 15-13 lead thanks to kills from Ramhorst and Roessler before another 5-1 run by Brockport put New Paltz behind 18-16. A Tyack kill and Brockport error tied the set at 18-18 but the Golden Eagles again closed out the second stanza on a 7-1 tear to end the New Paltz threat and put the Hawks behind 2-0.

Needing a win to stave off elimination and avoid the sweep, the Hawks were able to do just that despite trailing 12-10 halfway through set number three. Kills from Keyes, Paulik and Roessler tied the set at 13-13 and a Ramhorst termination handed New Paltz a 16-15 edge in the middle of a 5-1 Hawk run, claiming a 20-16 cushion. However, Brockport rattled off a 6-2 run to put the Hawks down 22-21. Knotted at 23-23, New Paltz used senior leadership down the stretch as Roessler and Ramhorst notched several kills to keep the Hawks alive, winning 26-24.

This momentum was short lived, however, as the Golden Eagles burst out of the gates in the fourth set with a 13-4 lead, which eventually grew into an 21-8 deficit for the Hawks. Looking to rally, New Paltz strung together a 6-1 run to climb to within 22-14, but Brockport was too strong and closed out the championship match on a 3-0 spurt.