Box Score

UNION, N.J. – Four student athletes enjoyed five or more kills to lead the No. 4 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team past host No. 11 Kean 3-0 (26-24, 29-27, 25-11) on Thursday evening in non-conference action.

New Paltz improves to 16-3 overall and will now prepare to host No. 1 Springfield in a rematch of the 2016 Division III National Championship bout on Wednesday, March 1 at 6 p.m. in the Hawk Center.

Junior outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) floored a match-high 10 kills, hitting .467, while providing four digs and three block assists. Senior middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) floored eight kills (.417) while providing the defense with five total blocks.

Sophomore Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) chipped in eight kills and four digs while senior middle blocker Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) tallied five kills for the Hawks.

Freshman setter Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) and sophomore setter Nick Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) orchestrated the offense with 23 and 11 assists, respectively.

For the Cougars (11-6), Jacob Kauffman recorded seven kills while Kevin Barrow distributed 18 assists and chipped in five digs.

On the night, the Hawks hit .324 (40-16-74) while limiting the No. 11 Cougars to just a .043 attack percentage.

The first set started out back-and-forth until the Cougars claimed a 16-13 lead, which forced New Paltz to take a timeout. Following the break, the Hawks were able to knot the contest at 17-all. Leading 22-21, New Paltz allowed Kean back into the set as the Cougars took a slim 23-22 lead. However, the Hawks outscored Kean 4-1 down the stretch, with a pair of kills from Roessler, to close out the opening stanza 26-24.

Unfortunately, the second set did not start as planned for New Paltz as Kean jumped out to a 10-6 advantage. But the Hawks remained resilient and battled back, to get within one, 11-10. Kean rattled off a 5-1 spurt to claim a 16-11 edge and went ahead 19-15 following a service error by New Paltz.

But the Hawks stayed focused and used kills by Bonilla and Woessner and an ace by junior middle blocker Nick Denoncourt (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) to knot the set at 19-all. Kean answered with a 3-0 run to take a 22-19 lead, which forced New Paltz to take a timeout. Out of the break, the Hawks tied the set at 22-22.

Headed to extra points, both teams had chances at set point, but it was New Paltz enjoying the final two on consecutive attacking errors by the Cougars, winning 29-27.

The third set was all New Paltz as the air seemed to be taken out of the Cougars. The Hawks cruised to a 14-5 lead and increased that to 18-8. Two kills by Schneider and one by Smith handed the Hawks the 3-0 sweep.