Box Score Geneseo, NY — For the third time in program history, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team is State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) champions.
Losing to SUNY Geneseo 3-0 (14-25, 14-25, 23-25) in the regular season, the Hawks handed the Knights a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23) defeat themselves in the SUNYAC championship game, earning an automatic bid to the Division III NCAA tournament.
"This team has worked so hard since January," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre. "To see it all come to fruition today, I'm so proud of the team and how they came together to achieve this as one unit."
SUNY New Paltz came out hungry in the first set, going on an early 6-1 run, capped off by blocks from senior setter Meredith Dignan and junior middle hitter Kerri Neville to take the lead, 11-5, which forced a SUNY Geneseo timeout, allowing the Knights to climb back into the set, 12-9.
Scoring early and often, the Hawks extended their lead, 20-14. Four-unanswered points by SUNY Geneseo, however, brought the Knights behind two at 20-18, making coach Giufre call a timeout.
Giufre's message was heard, as SUNY New Paltz outscored the SUNY Geneseo, 5-3, with a kill and service ace from Neville sealing the set, 25-21.
The Knights attempted to gain momentum in the second, taking an early 5-2 lead. Their scoring would be stopped, as the Hawks climbed back to tie the set at seven.
A 5-0 run by SUNY Geneseo erased SUNY New Paltz's two-point lead, as the Knights grabbed a 14-11 advantage. But, a kill by junior outside hitter Madison Van Pelt stopped the run, and led to a 7-2 spurt for the Hawks to jump in front, 18-16.
Tied at 18, three-unanswered points from SUNY New Paltz topped off by a Van Pelt kill forced a SUNY Geneseo timeout, and brought the Hawks up, 21-18. The stoppage could not limit SUNY New Paltz's scoring, as it went on a 4-2 run, with a kill by sophomore outside Julie Greenspan capping the set off, 25-20.
The third was tight throughout, as both teams tied each other seven times and stayed within four points within the entire set. Down 13-9, the Hawks could not jump back in the set until kills from Neville and senior outside hitter Taylor Cimillo evened things at 17, forcing a Knights timeout.
SUNY New Paltz down again 22-20, kills from Van Pelt and Cimillo tied the set at 22. SUNY Geneseo used its last timeout, but it could not stop the Hawks offense. A Cimillo kill, a sophomore setter Caleigh Carr service ace and a sophomore middle hitter Demi Herasme kill gave SUNY New Paltz its third-ever SUNYAC championship, winning the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-
"The feeling right now is just unbelievable," Herasme said. "When we lost to them earlier in the season it was obviously disappointing. But since that day, we were fired up to come back and play harder, and more aggressive."Van Pelt led the Hawks offense with 14 kills, while Herasme had four blocks, and senior setter Meredith Dignan racked up 30 assists and 20 digs.
Dignan, Van Pelt and Neville were all named to the SUNYAC all-tournament team, with Dignan receiving the tournament's MVP award.
SUNY New Paltz will now wait until Monday to hear who it will face in the NCAA tournament.
"If we continue to play like we did today, we definitely have more volleyball ahead of us," Dignan said. "We're all so happy we get to practice on Monday."
For everything #NPHawks including photos, video, recaps and highlights, be sure to follow
@nphawks on Twitter and
@newpaltzhawks on Facebook and Instagram.
