NEW LONDON, CT — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team opened up the U.S Coast Guard Academy Bear Invitational against Eastern Connecticut State University and swept the Warriors in straight sets (25-14, 26-24, 26-24) Friday in Roland Hall.

With the win, the Hawks improved to 12-10 overall (5-4 SUNYAC). On the other hand, Eastern Connecticut State dropped to 12-9 on the year (5-2 Little East).
 
"I'm very pleased with how we played tonight," said SUNY New Paltz coach Matt Giufre. "We got a lot of people involved and all of them contributed." 
 
The Hawks began the first set all fired up by capturing the first four points of the game. A kill by Abby Stern tied the set for the Warriors at five. The foes took advantage of several errors from SUNY New Paltz and compiled a 12-10 jump. A kill from senior Maddie Van Pelt and an attack error from by Madison Bell tied the set at 12 once again. After Eastern Connecticut State collected its 13th point, the Hawks went on a nine-point run to boost the score 22-13. A service error from junior Caleigh Carr gave the foes one more point, but that did not have an effect on the score. A kill and a service ace by Van Pelt and a kill by senior Emily Visintini gave the Hawks a 25-14 set one win. 
 After tying the second set at three, the Warriors worked on a 6-4 mark. Shortly after, a kill by sophomore Courtney Gebhardt and a service ace from Van Pelt evened the score at six. Eastern Connecticut managed to regain momentum and scored two more points to go up 8-6, but that did not stop SUNY New Paltz from going on a six-point run to claim a 12-8 lead. 
 
Throughout the duration of the set, both teams kept goingt back-and-forth until the 24th point. Kiills from senior Kerri Neville and Van Pelt closed out set two, helping the Hawks claim a 26-24 victory and a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Warriors opened set three with another 6-4 jump. A kill by Gebhardt and a service ace from Van Pelt evened the score at six. After Eastern Connecticut State tallied two more points, SUNY New Paltz scored six consecutive points to make a 12-8 comeback. Both teams continued to exchange points just like in the previous set until point 22. An attack error and blocks from Van Pelt and Neville, respectively, gave the Hawks a 24-22 lead. The Warriors made an effort to tie the score again at 24, but kills from Van Pelt and Neville quickly shut down the foes, allowing the Hawks to take another 26-24 set victory and win the game altogether, 3-0. 
 
"In those close sets we were going back and forth with some strategic adjustments but other than that the team did a good job doing what they needed to do," added Giufre. "It was a nice win and another big day tomorrow."
 
Senior Shannon Thomas and Neville combined for six blocks. Junior Haley Timarky collected 20 assists, while Carr tallied a team-high three service aces. Van Pelt paced the Hawks with 15 kills and 14 digs along with two service aces and two blocks. Senior Nicole Fellone contributed nine digs and seven assists. 
 
SUNY New Paltz completed the matchup with a hitting percentage of .266 in comparison to Eastern Connecticut State's .149 hitting percentage. 
 
The Hawks return to action Saturday when they compete against the hosting Bears and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to close out the weekend at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. Additionally, SUNY New Paltz will look to keep its four-game winning streak going. 
 
To follow along with live video and stats against the hosts, click here.

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