Box Score Poughkeepsie, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team took out the Vassar Brewers, No. 1 in the New York region, in four sets Wednesday night 25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19. The Hawk defense limited the top ranked Brewers to a .132 hitting percentage while recording an impressive .250 mark of their own.

"Vassar is having a great season so for us to come out tonight and put our most consistent and complete match together is something I'm proud of and excited to see us repeat that level of consistency in the days ahead," said SUNY New Paltz coach Matt Giufre.
 
Demi Herasme led the Hawks offensively, tallying 13 kills with no errors out of the middle. Fellow middle hitter Kerri Neville notched a good hitting percentage of her own at .438 with eight kills and one error on 16 attempts.

"Demi was very active hitting and blocking and really was a force for us tonight," said Giufre. "She played with a lot of energy and confidence and we got to see what she's capable of when she does that."
 
SUNY New Paltz jumped all over the Brewers to start the match with an early 13-6 lead and never looked back, dominating the opening set 25-13.
 
The second set started off in a similar way as the Hawks led 11-3, but this time Vassar wasn't going to back down and knotted the set up at 14-14. Herasme brought the fire back for the Hawks as back-to-back kills put SUNY New Paltz in the lead 18-14. The set stayed in the control of the Hawks the rest of the way and they took a two set to none lead, 25-17.
 
Momentum swung back in the Brewers favor in the third set as they took a tightly contested game 25-22. Down 15-12 in the fourth set, the Hawks were looking for another spark, and this time the back-to-back kills came from Taylor Cimillo who helped SUNY New Paltz tie the set up at 16-16. The Hawks won 12 of the final 15 points in the fourth set to take down the top ranked Brewers 25-19.
 
Maddie Zwickl led a balanced offense for the Hawks dishing out 36 assists in the match. Three players reached double digit kills for SUNY New Paltz (Herasme 13, Cimillo 12, Emma Hines 10). Cimillo also recorded a double-double on the night as she added 14 digs.
 
Senior libero Veronica Matedero ran the back line for the Hawks as she posted 17 digs to lead the defense.

"We got critical clutch performances from Kerri, Emma and Julie, which made a huge difference offensively, and Nicole's defense made a big impact in slowing their hitters down," said Giufre. "I also thought Maddie recognized the hot hand and favorable matchups and made smart decisions with who to set the ball to."
 
The Hawks now stand at 17-10 on the season and travel to Skidmore College for a weekend tournament before hosting the first round of SUNYAC playoffs on Halloween night against SUNY Oneonta.

"I'm really pleased with how we played and I look forward to seeing us repeat that in practice tomorrow and this coming weekend," said Giufre.