Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team suffered its sixth loss of the season Wednesday night, falling to No. 8 regionally ranked Vassar College, 3-1 (23-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22).

Hawks coach Matt Giufre was disappointed with the way his team came out last Saturday against conference undefeated SUNY Geneseo with the No. 1 seed in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament on the line. SUNY New Paltz wound up getting swept by the Knights and falling to the No. 2 spot in the tournament, and hoped a few non-conference games leading into the postseason would help turn things around, starting with the Brewers. But again, the Hawks had trouble getting out of an early deficit and couldn't climb out of the hole against visiting Vassar College.

"When we lose a few points, we need to be able to get out of that rut earlier and we're not doing that," Giufre said. "In the matches that we lose we're not doing that and the matches we win we do it and the opponent usually makes some mistakes to help us with that. When we play teams like a Vassar, a Geneseo, more consistent low-error teams, we need to be able to do that for ourselves and we're not doing that." 

SUNY New Paltz took the initial 3-0 lead in the first set over the Brewers and extended its advantage to 7-3 following a Julie Greenspan kill, but Vassar responded with a six-point run to capture control.

The score was tied 11 more times before the Brewers pulled ahead at 23-all with back-to-back kills by Devan Gallagher to claim the first set victory, 25-23.

"I thought we started off the first set well tonight," Giufre said. "We were up whatever it was early and then Vassar came back, tied it up and took a couple point lead and then we fell apart. Same thing in the second set. We forced things that were not available. We have players that we need to count on getting down on themselves to the point where they can't contribute and that has got to stop."

Vassar continued building its momentum in the second to take a 2-0 lead following a 25-19 victory, but the Hawks started climbing back in the third.

The Brewers opened up with an early 3-1 advantage, but SUNY New Paltz countered with a block by Greenspan followed by consecutive kill's from Kerri Neville to gain its first lead of the set, which the Hawks never relinquished on their way to a 25-17 victory. Demi Herasme sealed the win, getting up for a big solo block to keep her team alive.

SUNY New Paltz went down early in the fourth, but kept the set close throughout. Herasme slammed down a kill, assisted by Dignan to tie the score at 19-all, but the Hawks couldn't get the advantage. They again tied the game at 22, following a block by Taylor Cimillo and Neville to close the gap, but the Brewers answered with three straight point to take the, 25-22 win.

"I mean I am happy that we battled back and won the third set, got down in the fourth and battled back to tie it, but no I am not happy with the way we played," Giufre said. "We have to come out and start matches like that. We got to come out and start matches with more of a fighter mentality before we're down and we got to be able to bounce back."

The Hawks out-hit Vassar (55-46) and also held a better hitting percentage in the game (.215 - .197), but committed 21 attacking errors on the night.

Neville led the team in kills (14) and hitting percentage (.464), while adding two blocks and two digs to her stat line. Cimillo followed with 13 kills and 18 digs, while Greenspan added 11 kills, two blocks and three digs. Dignan led the team with 50 assists, while Nicole Fellone led the Hawks in digs with 22. Nicole Cooke and Emily Visintini put in some good minutes off the bench and combined for four kills and five digs with Visintini finishing with a .500 hitting percentage.

"I thought Cooke and Emily coming off the bench really gave us a nice lift and really made some good plays," Giufre said. "They weren't perfect and no one on our team is, but I thought they made some really good plays. But, the players out there with the most experience are the ones that need to be able to stop the tide. I think that it comes with a certain mentality of not letting it get to a certain point and we're struggling with that. If we don't fix that our season will end next Friday."

It was the last home game of the season for SUNY New Paltz, which ends the year 10-2 at the Hawk Center in 2018. The Hawks celebrated seniors Cimillo and Dignan during the game as the duo were honored in between sets for their commitment to the program. 

SUNY New Paltz has one last non-conference weekend before it heads into the SUNYAC tournament. The Hawks travel to Skidmore College to take on Lasell College, Morrisville State College and the hosting Thoroughbreds, respectively, Friday and Saturday. 

For everything #NPHawks including photos, video, recaps and highlights, be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Facebook and Instagram.