Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 New Paltz, NY -- Coming back from a slight two-game losing streak, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team earned two 3-0 wins against St. John Fisher College (25-18, 25-22, 25-20) and Eastern Mennonite University (25-20, 25-20, 25-15) Saturday at the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks continued their undefeated streak in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) with the weekend victories, sitting at 7-0. SUNY New Paltz is now 17-6 overall.
 
"Tough losses there to Elms and Springfield, but these UVC matches are big for us," said SUNY New Paltz senior outside hitter Bradley Schneider. "As long as we win those games, that's how we're going to get to the NCAA tournament. We just have to keep up the good work." 
 
With the first set against the Cardinals tight early and tied at seven, the Hawks made a jump due to multiple errors by the visitors, which resulted in five unanswered points to put them up, 12-7. St. John Fisher College came back to get behind,12-10, but SUNY New Paltz's offense continued to push the pace.
 
A kill by Hawks junior outside hitter Aaron a Carrk got a 4-0 rally started to bounce the score up, 22-14. A late surge by the Cardinals was not enough, as freshman middle blocker John Ronan and senior outside hitter NIck Smith capped off the set at 25-18 with back-to-back kills.
 
SUNY New Paltz had to fight back in the second set, allowing St. John Fisher to jump out to an 8-4 lead. Two errors allowed the Hawks to jump back in front 14-13, and a kill by Carrk at 17-16 created a 4-0 run to jump ahead, 21-16 and force a Cardinals timeout. St. John Fisher College made a 3-0 run at the end to come behind, 24-22, but another kill from Carrk sealed the set and put SUNY New Paltz in front by two.
 
Hoping to end the game early, the Hawks got out to a 5-1 lead in the beginning of the third set. With SUNY New Paltz holding the lead throughout, the Cardinals made a 4-0 run to come behind one at 20-19, putting the pressure on the Hawks. SUNY New Paltz answered with two kills and two service ace by Smith, followed by two service aces from junior setter Matthew Grace to build a 5-1 run and close the match with a 25-20 set victory.

"These two UVC victories [this weekend] secured our place in the conference," said Hawks coach Radu Petrus. "The next match on the conference will decide who will host the tournament. We've never beaten Steven's at their home, so hopefully we can after break."
 
SUNY New Paltz went back-and-forth with Eastern Mennonite University throughout the first set in their second game of the day, tying the Royals 13 times in a set that featured five lead changes. With the set tied at 16, six unanswered points by the Hawks was enough to give them a 22-16 lead and full momentum of the set. A kill by Carrk won the set, 25-20 for SUNY New Paltz, giving them the 1-0 advantage.
The Hawks came out hot in the second set, scoring five unanswered points to force a Eastern Mennonite University time-out up 5-0. The Royals never recovered, as SUNY New Paltz extended their lead to as much as eight at 20-12. The Hawks cruised to another 25-20 set victory to go in front, 2-0.
 
Continuing the pace, SUNY New Paltz offense pushed aggressively again in the third set, gaining an early 12-5 lead. Eastern Mennonite could not come up with a solution, as The Hawks continued to widen the gap. A kill by freshman opposite and outside hitter Tim Drake finished the job for SUNY New Paltz, earning its second win of the day with a 25-15 set victory.
 
The Hawks will continue their regular season schedule March 25 when they host Ramapo College in a non-conference match at 7 p.m. in the Hawk Center.
 
"We have a long season, so hopefully this break can get us rejuvenated again," Grace said. "Everyone that came in [today] through the injuries did a great job."

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