Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Annendale-On-Hudson, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team split four-set decisions this Saturday at the Bard College tri-match. The Hawks dropped a tough match to Hunter College 21-25, 25-13, 23-25, 27-29, but took out Mount Holyoke 25-17, 17-25, 26-24, 25-19.
 
In the opening match SUNY New Paltz dropped the final two sets by only two points each to an 18-3 Hunter squad. The Hawks put together a strong defensive showing behind senior libero Veronica Matedero who recorded 26 digs.
 
Taylor Cimillo played tough on both ends for SUNY New Paltz by putting up a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs. Maddie Zwickl continues to lead an improved offense for the Hawks as she tallied 38 assists for the match.

"Hunter is a very strong team," said head coach Matt Giufre. "They executed better than we did in every aspect and while we played hard we just didn't play well enough."
 
The Hawks took on the Lyons of Mount Holyoke in the second match of the day and Giufre decided to give some of veterans a rest while giving the younger players an opportunity to show their stuff.

After rolling through the first set, the younger squad faltered in the second set and fell 25-17. The Hawks showed their toughness in the third set after going down 20-15 they ran the next eight of nine points to take a 23-21 lead. The team showed their composure by being able to hang on to a 26-24 win.
 
The Hawks kept the momentum rolling to start the fourth set by jumping out to a 9-1 lead. Despite a late push from the Lyons, SUNY New Paltz was able to hang on and take the fourth set 25-19.
 
Freshmen setters led the offense for the Hawks as Caleigh Carr and Haley Timarky tallied 30 and 12 assists, respectively. The offense was led by Maddie Van Pelt who posted 14 kills while freshmen Julie Greenspan wasn't far behind with 10 of her own.
 
Despite putting out a mostly young lineup, Giufre still kept his senior libero on the court and Matedero put her second strong showing of the day with 29 digs.
 
"Our younger players did a good job maintaining a level of focus and execution that allowed us to come back in the critical third set and ultimately win the match," said Giufre. "In particular Ruby changed the game with her blocking and Caleigh did a good job keeping their defense off balance with her setting."
 
The Hawks enter their final SUNYAC pool play weekend on October, 20^th and 21^st where they take on SUNY Oneonta, Fredonia State, and Oswego State.