Box Score Poughkeepsie, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team fell in five sets to their Hudson River rival Vassar College by a score of 25-13, 26-24, 24-26, 23-25, 10-15.
 
The Hawks came out firing in the opening set and dominated the Brewers by tallying a team hitting percentage of .450 while holding Vassar to -.087. However, that was the end of the offensive effectiveness for SUNY New Paltz.
 
After the disappointing opening set, the Brewers came out strong in the second set and took an early 11-7 lead. Behind some solid hitting by junior outside hitter Nick Smith, the Hawks climbed back into the set to eventually tie it at 16, and then take the lead a few points later off a Smith kill at 20-19. Vassar College stayed in the set though and found themselves with a set point at 24-23. However, Smith and senior co-captain Ryan Cole racked up back to back kills to take back the control and put the pressure on the Brewers. Following a tough serve by senior outside hitter Anthony Bonilla, the Vassar offense couldn't get the play they wanted, and Jefferson Waters sailed the ball out of bounds.
 
The third set started out to the same tune as the second, but an early run with sophomore setter Matthew Grace at the serving line gave SUNY New Paltz an 8-5 lead. The Brewers answered right back and ended up with the momentum in the set and found themselves with a 23-19 lead. Cole got the Hawks going with a kill and an ace in back to back points and a few points later SUNY New Paltz had a match point. Cole's magic ended there, and a service error gave Vassar the chance to steal the third set from the Hawks.
 
SUNY New Paltz was in control was in control of the fourth set as well with a late 23-21 lead, but a four-point run from the Brewers, powered by two blocks, forced a fifth and deciding set.
 
Vassar took control early in the fifth set, and the Hawks were never able to complete the come back and even up the set.
 
"We weren't able to take advantage of the opportunities we had late in the match," said head coach Radu Petrus. "Vassar is a great team and against a team like that you have to advantage of the chances you get, and we didn't do that."
 
Smith led the Hawks offense with 20 kills while Cole followed right behind with 15 of his own. Grace distributed the ball throughout the offense with 41 assists while sophomore libero Robert Nolan picked up a match-high 10 digs.
 
"We know what we need to work on and we need to come back stronger tomorrow against another tough UVC opponent in MIT," said Petrus.
 
SUNY New Paltz plays their final UVC match of the season tomorrow at 1 p.m. against the MIT Engineers. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for updates, highlights, videos, photos and more.