Box Score New York, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team kept their season alive by sweeping Nazareth College in the opening round of the UVC tournament 25-19, 25-23, 25-21. The Hawks dominated offensively, racking up 42 kills on a .341 hitting percentage.
 
SUNY New Paltz entered the match known for its strong play at the pins with Ryan Cole and Nick Smith, but one of the keys to its sweep was the effectiveness of the middle hitters. Both Tevin Skeete and Nick Denoncourt contributed timely plays out of the middle and totaled 11 kills between the two of them.
 
The Hawks jumped out to an early lead in the opening set by being able to almost always win a point on their own serve. Denoncourt, Bradley Schneider, and Matt Goldberg picked up a point on their serves in the first 14 points to give SUNY New Paltz a 9-5 advantage. Despite multiple events from Nazareth College to climb back into the set, the Hawks never trailed and took the first set 25-19.
 
In the regular season matchup between the two teams, SUNY New Paltz took the first set handily as well, but then dropped the second set. It was beginning to look like a repeat of the first time around as the Golden Flyers had the momentum late with a 21-19 lead. However, a timeout by head coach Radu Petrus refocused the Hawks and they won four straight points out of the timeout. Leading 23-22 sophomore setter Matthew Grace showed the faith he had in his middle hitters by turning to Skeete who gave SUNY New Paltz its first match point. Two points later, junior outside hitter Bradley Schneider sealed the second set with a kill to put the Hawks one set away from advancing to the semifinals.
 
"The second set was a turning point in the match," said Petrus. "The team showed mental toughness and found a way to pull it out."
 
Although the momentum had shifted in favor of SUNY New Paltz, Nazareth College was fighting to keep their season alive and kept the set even early on. With the set tied at 14, the Hawks made their run and took six of the next seven points, which included two kills and an ace from Denoncourt. The late spurt from SUNY New Paltz was too much to come back from for the Golden Flyers and the Hawks completed the sweep with a 25-21 victory.
 
Cole and Smith led the offensive charge with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while Skeete finished with seven kills and a .364 hitting percentage. Denoncourt also turned in a solid performance with a .600 percentage attacking. Grace turned in an efficient performance with 33 assists, six digs, three kills, and two aces. Sopohmore libero Robert Nolan tallied a team-high seven digs.
 
"It was a great win, but now we have to focus on Vassar," said Petrus. "They are a really tough team and beat us in the regular season so we will need to have a good performance tomorrow."
 
The Hawks take on second seeded Vassar College at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Hunter College. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for updates, highlights, videos, photos and more.