Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The No. 1 ranked State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team swept California Lutheran University, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) before defeating host Nazareth College, 3-1 (27-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-20), in the Purple and Gold Invitational on Saturday.

The Hawks, which are currently riding a 21-match streak and have yet to be defeated by a Division III program this season, improve to 23-2 and will face Hunter College on Wednesday, March 23 in a 6 p.m. match up. California Lutheran drops to 4-23 and moves on to face the SUNY Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday, March 23. Nazareth drops to 21-7 and will return to United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action on Saturday, March 26 at No. 13 New York University. The Golden Flyers will face the host Violets at 11 a.m. before taking on Bard College at 3:30 p.m.

New Paltz 3, California Lutheran 0

The Hawks hit .321 (40-15-78) and held a 6-4 advantage in service aces to defeat the Kingsmen in straight-sets. Junior opposite/middle blocker Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) leading the charge. Roessler hit .444 (17-5-25) on 17 kills while freshman outside hitter Eric Tuttle (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit) floored five kills, two service aces and tallied two block assists.

Sophomore setter Mitchell Kennedy (Penfield, N.Y./Fairport) dished out 30 assists while senior libero Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) provided 10 digs for the Hawks' defense.

California Lutheran hit .113 (22-14-71) and edged the Hawks,7-3, in blocks.Senior outside hitter Hunter Horn led the Kingsmen with seven kills with freshman middle blocker Nicholas Oertli adding six kills. Junior setter Nick Shoemate doled out 12 assists while freshman outside hitter Justin Kam defended eight digs.

An early battled ensued for the lead in the opening set with both teams trading points until Roessler floored back-to-back kills to give the Hawks a 10-8 edge. New Paltz pushed a 5-1 run to extend their lead to 15-9 but the Kingsmen took advantage of three New Paltz errors to cut the deficit to 15-12. The Hawks maintained the lead until a pair of service aces by junior outside hitter Kristian Gallardo and a New Paltz attack error tied the score to 17-all.

The Hawks regained the lead on a 4-1 run to push ahead, 21-18, before the Kingsmen brought the score within one. However, a California Lutheran service error returned the ball to New Paltz and the Hawks rattled off the final four points needed to seal the set win.

New Paltz ran out ahead, 5-3, in the second frame but the Kingsmen remained close behind, roping the score to 10-9 on a kill by Nicholas Oertli. California Lutheran continued to trail the Hawks until Tuttle served six unanswered points to push New Paltz to a 19-11 cushion, forcing the Kingsmen to take a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Hawks held the lead as both teams traded points to the end of the set when a Kingsmen service error gave New Paltz the win for a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.

California Lutheran took the reins to steer the score in its favor as the Kingsmen jumped ahead to an 11-9 lead but the Hawks rallied on kills by sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz), junior middle blocker C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence) and Roessler to tie up the score before grabbing the lead on a Kingsmen attack error. California Lutheran tried to keep the score close but the Hawks increased the gap to 24-18 on a 6-4 run before junior middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) put away the match-winning kill.

New Paltz 3, Nazareth 1

New Paltz hit .539 with 18 kills on 27 attempts and two errors to slip past Nazareth for the 27-25 opening set win. The Hawks and the Golden Flyers alternated with the lead throughout the frame until Nazareth pulled away, 24-23, on a by kill senior outside hitter Tim Zyburt, causing New Paltz to take a timeout. A Golden Flyers' service error returned the serve to New Paltz, which took the win on a 4-1 run capped off on a kill by junior opposite Joe Norman (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore).

The second frame started off in similar fashion with the score remaining close but New Paltz would grab a 23-21 edge as senior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham), senior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and Woessner each floored a kill to push Nazareth into a timeout. The Golden Flyers made quick work of cutting the score to 24-23 on a pair of kills but the win would go to New Paltz as Fishman delivered the kill to close the set.

Three-straight points placed the Golden Flyers in the lead, 6-3, in the start of the third frame but a 5-2 spurt by New Paltz would close the gap to 8-7. However Nazareth would not be stopped as it pushed an 8-4 run to extend its lead to 15-11. The Hawks managed to cut the score to 24-17 but could go no further as the Golden Flyers took the set on a kill by senior outside hitter Grant Levermore.

Bonilla came out swinging in the fourth set as the sophomore floored back-to-back kills to give New Paltz a 5-3 advantage before the Hawks capitalized on two Nazareth attack errors to extend their lead to 7-3. The Golden Flyers responded with three unanswered points to close the gap to 9-8 and would continue to trail the Hawks until a 4-1 burst catapulted New Paltz to an 18-15 cushion. The Hawks could not be caught as they cruised to a 25-20 win to take home their 21^st-straight victory.

New Paltz hit .364 (61-18-118) for the match and limited Nazareth to a .333 clip (15-14-108). The Golden Flyers held a 3-2 edge in service aces but both teams finished the match with six blocks apiece.

Woessner hit .529 (10-1-17) for the match, flooring 10 kills and notching three block assists. Fishman notched 13 kills for a .423 clip (13-2-26) while Husmann chipped in 10 kills to help the offense. Senior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) dished out 47 assists, defended 12 digs and tallied three total blocks (one solo, two assists).

Zyburt led the Golden Flyers with 13 kills while freshman outside hitter Zachary Gillard added 12 kills. Sophomore setter Jake Kemp doled out 43 assists while junior libero/outside hitter Tom Keisling defended 11 digs.