Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Atlanta, GA - The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team traveled to Atlanta, GA to open up its season at the Emory Classic. The Hawks took on tough opponents in the College of Saint Benedict and Covenant College, but was able to come out with a split by defeating Covenant 3-1 after falling in straight sets to the Bennies.

In the opening match, SUNY New Paltz started out competitive against the Bennies, battling to a 25-16 loss. However, the Hawks were never able to grab the momentum as Saint Benedict jumped out to large leads in both the second and third sets to finish out the match 25-14 and 25-9, respectively.

Sophomore right side hitter Julie Greenspan turned in a solid offensive performance, racking up four kills and no errors on 12 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Senior setter Meredith Dignan ended one assist shy of a double-double as she racked up 10 digs to compliment her work running the offense. Senior outside hitter Taylor Cimillo led the team in kills with five.

The Hawks were able to put the tough loss behind them and come out firing against the Scots. With the opening set tied at 11, SUNY New Paltz made the first big run of the match as they won the next eight of 10 points. Covenant College made a late push, but the lead was big enough for the Hawks to hold on to as an attacking error gave SUNY New Paltz the opening set.

The back and forth play continued into the second set and this time the Scots were able to pull out the set with a 25-23 victory of their own. 

SUNY New Paltz took an early lead in the third set at 14-9, but once again Covenant College was able to pull it together and mount a comeback to tie up the set at 16. However, effective offense out of the middle from sophomore Demi Herasme and junior Kerri Neville helped lead the Hawks to a 25-22 win on a Neville kill.

One set away from their first win of the season, the Hawks found themselves trailing 10-7 early in the set. However, a quick four-point run allowed SUNY New Paltz to take the lead back. Both teams continued to trade points the rest of the way through the set, but at 22-22, the Hawks stepped up in a big way and ran three straight points powered by a kill from Greenspan and a solo block from Neville to seal the match.

Meredtih Dignan was able to pick up the double-double with 29 assists and a team-high 15 digs. Junior libero Nicole Fellone also played well on the back line adding 13 digs of her own.

Greenspan and Van Pelt led the offense with 15 and 11 kills, respectively. Greenspan turned in a .333 hitting percentage for the second time on the day, while Cimillo, Herasme, and Neville turned in efficient performances as well on the offensive end.

SUNY New Paltz gets back on the court tomorrow as they take on UT-Tyler and Maryville College at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively. 

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