The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team made it out of a rigorous non-conference schedule at 6-6 and are now ready to head into SUNYAC play this weekend at Plattsburgh State.
 
"The first 12 matches of our season matched us up with strong opponents, just like we will see throughout SUNYAC play," said head coach Matt Giufre. "We need to build on what we've learned about our team, run a balanced offense, and compete for every point for the chance to be successful in all three matches this weekend."
 
Running an aggressive and balanced offense has been a focus for the Hawks ever since the opening weekend of the Kean Invitational. That offense is led by senior setter Maddie Zwickl, who recently reached 4,000 assists and is currently third all-time in career assists. One of the keys to SUNY New Paltz's aggressive offense is running a successful attack out of the middle. During last weekend's Bomber Invitational middle hitter Kerri Neville was named to the All-Tournament Team after an impressive 13 kill performance in a win over Franklin & Marshall College.
 
Freshmen Demi Herasme has seen a recent boost in success as well out of the middle and chipped in nine kills on 17 attempts in the win over Franklin & Marshall.
 
Although Herasme is a freshmen, she feels ready and comfortable for conference play thanks to the leaders on her team. "I'm really excited," said Herasme. "I have great leaders on my team in Maddie, Veronica, Kerri, and [Maddie Van Pelt] so I always feel great playing on the court with them and I just plan to keep working hard."
 
The Hawks open up the weekend against last year's semi-finalist SUNY Geneseo on Friday at 5:00 p.m. The team then gets back in action on Saturday with SUNY Potsdam and Plattsburgh State at 12:00 and 2:30 p.m.
 
"SUNYAC play brings out the best in teams, and we are looking forward to getting up to Plattsburgh to face the challenge," said Giufre.

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