Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Atlanta, GA - The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team finished two days of volleyball in Atlanta by pulling out an intense five-set win over Maryville College 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 28-26, 15-11. Earlier in the day the Hawks battled a talented UT-Tyler team to a four-set loss 20-25, 26-24, 13-25, 19-25. 

"I'm really proud of the growth we showed over four tough matches this weekend," said head coach Matt Giufre. "After getting beat up in the first match Friday we put it behind us and played tougher and better against Covenant. Then this morning we battled point-for-point against a very good Texas Tyler team and let that tough loss go to refocus and play really well against Maryville."

SUNY New Paltz opened up the match against Maryville College strong and pulled out to a 13-7 lead after junior Kerri Neville aced the Scots. However, Maryville College battled back and ended up taking the lead at 17-18. The Hawks continued to battle, but the momentum gained by the Scots was too much to overcome and they walked away with a 24-26 win. 

The second set began as a back and forth battle, but when senior Taylor Cimillo stepped to the serving line at 11-9, the Hawks blew the set open and ran four straight points on her serve to take a 15-9 lead. Once again, Marville College attempted to fight back, but SUNY New Paltz was able to hold them off and tie the match up with a 25-19 win. 

The crucial third set started with two attacking errors from the Hawks and the Scots took advantage with a quick 3-0 lead. However, SUNY New Paltz was able to answer back right away and tie up the set at 5. The set continued back and forth play up until 20-20, but Maryville College was able to pull out the clutch plays at the end and took control of the match by pulling out the set 25-22.

In a must-win situation, the Hawks found themselves in control of the fourth set with a 20-16 lead. Once again, the Scots chipped away and ended up with a match point at 24-23. Following a key timeout from Giufre, SUNY New Paltz was able to re-focus and fend off the match point with a kill from Cimillo. Senior setter Meredith Dignan turned to Cimillo once against at 24-24 and she was able to get the job done and give the Hawks a set point. This time it was Maryville's turn to set up a play after a timeout and keep the fourth set going. However, SUNY New Paltz buckled down and forced three straight attacking errors to force the fifth and deciding set with a 28-26 win.

The fifth set was a game of runs by both teams as the Hawks took an early 3-0 lead, but the Scot's answered back with five straight points of their own. Trailing 5-3, it was SUNY New Paltz's turn to make a push as they ran four straight points by kills from Demi Herasme, Julie Greenspan, and Maddie Van Pelt. Leading 8-7 halfway through the final set, the Hawks made the final run of the match and walked away with a 15-11 win after a Van Pelt ace to seal the victory. 

Dignan was a force offensively and defensively again for SUNY New Paltz as she picked up another double-double with 41 assits and 13 digs. However, junior Nicole Fellone turned in her best performance of the weekend by racking up a match-high 26 digs. 

The Hawks spread out their offense well against Maryville with Greenspan, Cimillo, and Van Pelt picking up 15, 14, and 13 kills, respectively. Herasme and Neville added a combined 15 kills out of the middle. 

"After going down 2-1 and having a few missed opportunities, we could have broken down, but instead we came out determined to change the outcome in our favor," said Giufre. "We started to play more in sync and trusting each other and battling point by point. We are looking forward to building on this next weekend at Hawk Invite."

Against UT-Tyler SUNY New Paltz was led offensively by Van Pelt with 15 kills while Greenspan was right behind with 11. Dignan and sophomore setter Haley Timarky teamed up for 26, and 10 assists, respectively. Fellone chipped in a match-high 17 digs in the four-set loss.

The Hawks open up the Hawk Invite on Sep. 7 against Alfred University at 3:00 p.m. followed by St. Lawrence at 5:00 p.m. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.