SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY –– The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team opened up the Skidmore Invitational Friday with a dominant 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-22) win over Union College at the Williamson Sports Center. 

"We played a very clean match and limited our errors, which was a complete turnaround from Wednesday's match," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre. "Our passing and defense was strong and our setters did a great job moving the ball around offensively. We had much more production from all of our hitters which led to the win." 

SUNY New Paltz boosted its record to 14-12 overall (5-4 SUNYAC) whereas the Dutchmen dropped to 12-13 (1-6 Liberty League) on the year. 

Union grabbed the opening three points of the game, but the Hawks wasted no time as they went on a six-point run after three attack errors from the Dutchmen and kills by senior Maddie Van Pelt and sophomore Courtney Gebhardt to grab a 6-3 jump. 

The Dutchmen cut the lead, 12-11 after two ball-handling errors from SUNY New Paltz and two kills from Lara Atalay. The Hawks jumped ahead by five after two service aces from Atalay, a pair of service aces from junior Olivia D'Antonio and another kill by Gebhardt led to a 21-15 mark. Union brought the score closer, 21-19, as Gillian Gore fired back with four-straight kills. Despite having set point, Gore tallied another kill to lift her team up, 24-23, but right before the Dutchmen could get anything done, a kill from senior Kerri Neville concluded the first set, 25-23. 

Despite SUNY New Paltz holding a 5-3 lead, the score changed hands in favor of Union as it went on a five-point run, 8-5. The Hawks powered back in return following kills from freshman Katie Steele, Van Pelt, junior Julie Greenspan, blocks from Steele and Neville and a service ace from Van Pelt helped regain momentum and earn a 12-9 lead. The Dutchmen were not able to catch up as the Hawks successfully held them to 19 points, as a service error from Kaylee Velasquez closed the set for SUNY New Paltz, grabbing a 25-19 set two victory,

Union came off the bench starting set three with a 4-1 advantage. Two attack errors from Gore and kills by Van Pelt and Steele evened the score at five a piece. The Hawks defense kept rolling as kills from Carr, Steele, Gebhardt and senior Nicole Fellone assisted with a 13-8 mark. Van Pelt's kill helped boost the score, 16-9, but the Dutchmen did not show signs of giving up. 

Union tallied eight points to get right back up into the game and cut the lead by one, 17-16. Three kills from Gebhardt, Van Pelt, and Greenspan, respectively, placed SUNY New Paltz on a 21-17 mark. The game was tied at 22 after a kill by Katie Moss and an attack error from the Hawks forced the visitors to call for a timeout. After re-grouping, a kill by Steele and a pair of kills from Greenspan sealed the deal for SUNY New Paltz, as they captured set three, 25-22. 

Van Pelt completed the game with a team-high 12 kills, 14 points, one service ace, two blocks and 14 digs. Gebhardt jotted down 9.5 points, eight kills, and two blocks. Fellone recorded 17 digs with four assists. Junior Haley Timarky contributed 17 digs, while Neville produced a team-high five blocks. Greenspan tallied six kills, while D'Antonio collected two service aces. 

SUNY New Paltz returns to the court Saturday to square off against Morrisville State College and the hosts, Skidmore College, at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.