Box Score Cortland, NY- The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team began State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) pool play strong Friday night, with a 3-0 sweep over Buffalo State.

The Hawks now move to 12-3 on the year, with a 1-0 conference record. SUNY New Paltz will return Saturday at 2:30 p.m. to play The College at Brockport, followed by a 5 p.m. match with SUNY Cortland.

"We served aggressively and consistently, and backed it up with really good defense," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre. "We were really locked in and made it tough for Buffalo State to score easily."

Opening the first set against the Bengals (3-11 overall, 0-1 SUNYAC), two kills by junior middle hitter Kerri Neville and one by junior outside hitter Madison Van Pelt gave the Hawks the early 3-1 advantage. Buffalo State quickly answered with five unanswered points, jumping out 6-3 and holding the lead throughout most of the set.

At 14-14, SUNY New Paltz grabbed the lead once again after a service ace by senior outside hitter Taylor Cimillo and an attacking error put the Hawks in front, 16-14. A timeout by the Bengals could not stop the Hawks run, as two more kills by Neville and another by Van Pelt boosted SUNY New Paltz's lead, 19-14.

Buffalo State rallied to cut the deficit to two following a three unanswered-point run, which made the set, 24-22, but a ball handling error gave the Hawks the victory, 25-22.

SUNY New Paltz took another early lead in the second, opening the set up 5-1. The Bengals fought back, forcing two errors and a bad set to tie the score at 10.

The Bengals stayed within a point of the Hawks, but at 15-14 an attacking error, followed by a kill from sophomore outside hitter Julie Greenspan sparked a 10-2 run for SUNY New Paltz, which propelled the 25-16 victory and 2-0 advantage.

The Hawks proved no match for Buffalo State in the third set. Although the Bengals kept it close at 11-7, nine unanswered points by SUNY New Paltz spurred a 20-7 advantage, and was enough to take control. A kill by Cimillo, assisted by senior setter Meredith Dignan, sealed the set 25-9, and the match, 3-0 for the Hawks.

Van Pelt and Cimillo led SUNY New Paltz's offensive efforts, putting up 13 and 12 kills each, respectively. Dignan dished 35 assists, while junior libero Nicole Fellone had 13 digs for the Hawks.

"I think we got in a rhythm, and relaxed as tonight's match went on," Giufre said. "Hopefully we continue that tomorrow, and not put pressure on ourselves thinking we need to be perfect."

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