Box Score

MAHWAH, N.J. – Junior middle blocker/opposite Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) recorded a career-high 16 kills to help the No. 2 ranked State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team defeat host Ramapo College, 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-16, 25-18), on Wednesday evening.

New Paltz rises to 8-2 and opens conference play on Sunday Feb. 14 when the Hawks travel to Nazareth College for the first United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Crossover weekend. The Hawks will face the No. 6 Stevens Institute of Technology at 1:30 p.m. before taking on the No. 4 Golden Flyers at 4 p.m. The Roadrunners drop to 2-5 and next play Baruch College on Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.

The Hawks jumped on a 6-1 run to grab an early lead in the opening set. Although the Roadrunners managed to bring the score within two, the Hawks extended their advantage to 22-15 before Ramapo called for a timeout. After the break, the Roadrunners landed four more points before senior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) drilled home the set winning kill for New Paltz.

After tying the score to 8-all in the second frame, Ramapo capitalized on several New Paltz errors to push a 6-1 run for a 14-9 lead. A kill from both Roessler and senior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) pulled the Hawks within three but the Roadrunners surged ahead to 23-15 on a 9-4 spurt, forcing New Paltz into a timeout. Coming out of the break, Fishman added another kill to give the Hawks one more point before a New Paltz attack error and a kill by freshman setter Mikhael Erushalimski handed the Roadrunners the set victory.

The third set saw New Paltz jump ahead to 5-1 advantage, causing an early timeout from the Roadrunners. Despite Ramapo's efforts to catch up, the Hawks pushed its lead to 14-8 to force another timeout for the Roadrunners. Ramapo roped the score to 14-11 on a kill by freshman outside hitter/opposite Paul Close and two New Paltz errors but the Hawks responded shortly afterward as Fishman landed three kills to increase the gap to 19-13. The Hawks capped off the set on an 8-4 run to lead, 2-1, heading into the fourth frame.

A back-and-forth battled ensued for the lead as the score became locked at 6-all in the start of the final set. New Paltz soon seized control as a kill by Fishman and a Ramapo attack error handed the Hawks an 8-6 edge. The Roadrunners never trailed by more than one until New Paltz pushed its lead to 15-10 on a 5-1 run capped off by another kill from Fishman. The Hawks continued to extend their lead before a pair of kills by Roessler and two Roadrunner attack errors sealed the match victory for New Paltz.

The Hawks hit a .440 clip in the first set and .500 mark in set three to finish .298 (52-22-104) for the match. New Paltz also tallied 11 total blocks for the night. 

Fishman posted 13 kills (.647) for the Hawks. Sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) led the defense with 10 digs. Senior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) doled out 36 assists for the night while junior middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) concluded the match with six block assists.

For the Roadrunners, sophomore Justin Fiegeles posted nine kills and six digs with sophomore outside hitter Spencer Shickora also picking up six digs. Erushalimski dished out 20 assists in the loss.