Box Score
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Playing for the first time as defending NCAA Division III National Champions, the No. 2 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team defeated host No. 6 UC-Santa Cruz 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 14-25, 15-9) on Monday night to open up the 2017 campaign.
Junior outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) led the Hawks (1-0) with 18 kills on 36 attempts (.333) while tallying eight digs, three aces and two block assists. Senior middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) finished with eight kills (.533) and five block assists while senior middle blocker/opposite Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and sophomore setter/outside hitter Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) both chipped in eight kills each.
Junior setter Mitchell Kennedy (Penfield, N.Y./Fairport) orchestrated the offense with 28 assists and freshman setter Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) distributed 17 assists as well.
For the host Banana Slugs (1-1), senior Jake Howard enjoyed a match-high 20 kills while junior Lake Merchen tallied 15 kills. Junior setter Ryan McLaughlin distributed a match-best 47 assists on the night.
In the opening set, the Hawks jumped out to an 18-9 lead before the Banana Slugs rallied and climbed to within seven (23-16). But New Paltz was able to close out the first set thanks to a kill from Woessner.
The second set went back-and-forth from the start, with UC-Santa Cruz taking a 14-11 lead which forced New Paltz to take a timeout. Following the break, the Hawks rattled off four unanswered points to take a 15-14 lead. A Bonilla kill handed New Paltz a 22-19 lead, however, the Banana Slugs responded and outscored the Hawks 6-1 down the stretch to knot the match at 1-1.
Neither squad claimed more than a three-point edge in the third set until the home stretch. Knotted at 20-20, the Hawks closed out the set on a 5-0 spurt thanks to two kills from Schneider, winning the stanza 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead.
UC-Santa Cruz jumped out to a 13-7 lead in the fourth set and extended that cushion to nine (20-11). Despite a kill from senior middle blocker C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence), the Hawks were outscored 5-2 the rest of the way as the Banana Slugs knotted the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and final set, the visiting Hawks took a commanding 11-5 lead after kills from Bonilla and Kennedy. The Banana Slugs rallied and got to within four (12-8) but New Paltz closed out the set and the match with a Roessler kill and two attacking errors by UC-Santa Cruz.
New Paltz remains in California, playing at Hope International on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. (10 p.m. EST). The Hawks will be carrying a 33-match winning streak into Wednesday's contest.
