Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team got off to a slow start against the Ephs of Williams College, but hit their stride late in the match to battle their way to a four-set win 16-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22. The win marked the fourth straight for the Hawks and their home court record now stands at 5-1.
 
The Hawks struggled offensively in the opening set as they only hit .086% as a team compared to .273% from the Ephs. However, SUNY New Paltz wasn't going to shy away and came back strong in set two.
 
"We started off pretty poorly," said head coach Matt Giufre. "Between set one and set two what we saw was just everybody playing at real game speed. We didn't really change a game plan for set two we just committed to playing better volleyball."
 
Two kills from Kerri Neville gave the Hawks an early 7-4 lead in the second set and they never trailed again after holding off a late push from Williams to win the set 25-22.
 
The momentum continued to sky rocket for their offense as they jumped all over the Ephs in the third set. The Hawks hit .281% while holding Williams to .067%. Meredith Dignan stepped up to the serving line late in the set for SUNY New Paltz with a 20-15 lead. Dignan went on to serve five straight points to seal the set for the Hawks including two aces on the final two points.
 
The final set saw a few great rallies for both teams, but the Hawks were the ones finding a way to end the points as they hit .324% while holding the Ephs to .085%. The middle hitters for SUNY New Paltz played a major role in the win for the Hawks and fittingly, Demi Herasme finished off the match with a kill taking the final set 25-22.
 
The Hawks had four players reach double-digit kills in the match: Taylor Cimillo (12), Kerri Neville (12), Demi Herasme (10), and Maddie Van Pelt (10). Maddie Zwickl's steady hands distributed the ball as she racked up 46 assists on the night.
 
"I definitely thought there was some good rallies across the whole match," said Williams head coach Christi Kelsey. "I give New Paltz a lot of credit, they made some great adjustments and got some things going on their side and played with confidence in sets two, three, and four."
 
Although the blocks don't show up in the box score for the Hawks, the team excelled in rejecting the first attack from the Ephs. "I thought after the first set we did a pretty good job looking through the net," said Giufre. "We were recognizing where the person was going and stepping in front of their swing."
 
The Hawks are on a four-game winning streak heading into another weekend of SUNYAC play as they travel to SUNY Geneseo this weekend.
 
"I think we saw a different team from set one in sets two, three, and four," said Giufre. "We saw a team throw away a bad first set and be able to get back out there and play the quality of volleyball we are capable of."