After a disappointing loss in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) semifinals last season, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team will look to start the 2019 campaign strong with six games in California beginning this weekend.

The Hawks will compete in the Slug Slam at Kaiser Permanente Arena Jan. 12 and 13 against Marian University, California Lutheran University, North Central College and the University of California Santa Cruz. SUNY New Paltz will close out the trip with a match against Hope International University Jan. 16, along with another meeting against California Lutheran University Jan. 18.

"We're playing nine top-15 opponents this year, but we have to go in each game with the same mentality and take no one lightly," said senior outside hitter Bradley Schneider. "We have big hopes this year to bounce back from last year and get back to that stage at the National Championship."

Coming into the weekend as the No. 5 ranked team in the Division III AVCA coaches poll, the Hawks first test will be against Marian University from Wisconsin, a team they have never met in the regular season. Ranked fourth out of nine schools in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) preseason poll, the Sabres will look to pull multiple upsets against nationally ranked teams in their trip to California.

Marian University lost in the conference semifinals last year to the No. 8 ranked team in the nation at the time, Dominican University, which went on to win the NACC and finish in the NCAA tournament semifinals. SUNY New Paltz earned a win against the Stars in 2018 during the New Paltz Tri-Match, beating the then No. 7 team in the country 3-1 (24-26, 26-24, 25-17, 25-23).

"We have Marian first, and they are going to be a very scrappy team," said senior outside hitter Nick Smith. "We don't know all of what they bring, but we have to come out firing."

The Hawks have been successful against No. 8 California Lutheran University in the past, beating the Regals 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 15-25, 25-17) in 2017, and 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) in 2016. California Lutheran University lost in its conference tournament finals last year, but still earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Regals will enter the 2019 season coming off a 3-0 loss in the first round to Wesleyan University.

Never meeting in the regular season as well, SUNY New Paltz will have its first match ever against North Central College this weekend. The unranked Cardinals are coming off an impressive 17-8 record in the 2018 campaign, but lost in the semifinals of their conference tournament in a five set thriller after earning the No. 1 seed. North Central College was ranked second out of 10 teams in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) in the preseason poll.

The Hawks are most familiar with the University of California Santa Cruz, having played the Slugs six times in the last ten years. SUNY New Paltz finds itself at 2-4 during that span, but earned its two wins in the last two years, beating the University of California Santa Cruz 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) at home in 2018, and 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 14-25, 15-9) on the road in 2017. The Slugs come into the 2019 season ranked No. 9 in the AVCA coaches poll after going 26-10 last year, and will host the Slug Slam tournament this weekend.

During the Hawks 2017 trip to California, SUNY New Paltz faced Hope International University for the first time, losing 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 26-28). The Royals enter the 2019 season off a 15-11 campaign in 2018, having lost in their conference semifinals to the NAIA No. 5 ranked Lourdes University. The unranked Hope International University will look to pull another upset against the Hawks this weekend.

SUNY New Paltz will begin action at 1 p.m. Saturday against Marian University, followed by a 7 p.m. match against California Lutheran University. On Sunday, the Hawks will return at 5 p.m. to face North Central College, with a match against University of California Santa Cruz at 9 p.m

"There's a lot of benefits from taking trips like these," Schneider said. "These Californian teams play a great game, and are very defensive and very explosive. Seeing teams out there that have that type of gameplay is going to be beneficial for us and help us be better as a team."

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