Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The No. 2 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team began the weekend with a pair of wins in the Nazareth Golden Flyer Invitational on Friday night.
 
The Hawks (7-2 overall) enjoyed a 3-1 win (23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16) over Elmira before taking care of Johnson & Wales 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 26-24) to cap off the evening. New Paltz wraps up the tournament tomorrow with matches against No. 14 Rivier at 1 p.m. and Medialle at 5 p.m.
 
New Paltz 3, Elmira 1
 
Versus the Soaring Eagles, New Paltz dropped the opener but then responded with three-straight set wins to claim the match. Four players enjoyed double-digit kills as junior outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) floored a match-high 14, hitting .600, followed by senior middle blocker Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) who finished with 12, hitting .588.
 
Both sophomore outside hitter Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) and senior middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) paced the offense with 11 kills apiece while freshman setter Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) dished out 46 assists.
 
As previously mentioned, New Paltz fell 25-23 in set number one but recovered nicely with three-consecutive convincing wins to begin the day.
 
New Paltz 3, Johnson & Wales 0
 
Against Johnson & Wales, Roessler enjoyed an 11-kill performance while Bonilla provided six kills, three digs and two assists. Grace distributed 39 assists and enjoyed six digs and four aces and freshman libero Robert Nolan (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) paced the defense with 13 digs.
 
In the first set against the Wildcats, the Hawks jumped out to an 11-8 edge and would extend that advantage to 17-12. Johnson & Wales trimmed that lead down to one (20-19) before three kills from Roessler down the stretch closed out the opener.
 
In the second stanza, New Paltz enjoyed a 10-5 start and stretched the lead to 20-13. Two errors by the Wildcats and a kill by junior middle blocker Ryan Cole (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) gave the Hawks a comfortable 2-0 cushion.
 
The last set of the night was a battle and mid-way through was tied at 13-all. New Paltz went ahead by three on two separate occasions (21-18, 23-20) but the Wildcats battled back to force extra points. Tied at 24, kills by senior middle blocker C.J. Borftiz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence) and sophomore opposite Nick Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) gave the Hawks the 26-24 victory.