New York, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team took a four set victory against Hunter College Thursday to improve its record to 5-3 overall (0-0 SUNYAC). With the loss, the purple and yellow Hawks fell to 2-4 overall (0-0 CUNYAC).
 
"That was a nice win for us tonight," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre. "We played about as well as we could play in the first and much of the second set then Hunter really picked up their defense and made scoring very difficult for us. With that, their crowd really got into the match and gave them a big lift which caused us to bend a little, but I'm very proud of our team for not breaking. That's the first time this year we played in front of an away crowd that was so into the match and I thought we showed strong character in staying focused on playing volleyball." 
Set one began with a back-and-forth scoring affair between both teams, but SUNY New Paltz quickly built on an 11-5 lead to force Hunter College to take its first timeout of the set. The Hawks made an 8-1 run after the first timeout, but coach Alyssa Broccoli from the hosting Hawks was, once again, forced to take her last timeout. SUNY New Paltz was dominant for the remaining part of the set that ended with a kill from sophomore outside hitter Courtney Gebhardt, winning 25-14.
 
SUNY New Paltz quickly worked on a 12-4 lead causing Hunter College to take a timeout. Several kills and service aces by the purple and yellow Hawks put them back into the game, making the score 19-16 and forcing Giufre to take his first timeout to settle his team in. Hunter College cut the lead 23-22, but the Hawks managed to retain the advantage. A block by junior middle hitter Demi Herasme ended set two, 25-22. 
 
A kill by senior outside hitter Maddie Van Pelt after a long first rally to kick things off, and a block by Gebhardt put SUNY New Paltz up 2-0 to open set three. The purple and yellow Hawks took their first lead of the game, 4-5, after a service error from the Hawks. A kill by Hunter tied the game at 18. Both teams exchanged leads reaching to point 28, but a kill by Mariam Ouattara and a service ace, gave the purple and yellow Hawks its first set victory of the match, 28-30. 
 
In the last set, SUNY New Paltz constructed an 8-6 lead, but the opposition tied the set up at nine. Despite Hunter taking the advantage at 9-10, SUNY New Paltz controlled the remaining part of the fourth set. A block by junior outside hitter Julie Greenspan and senior middle hitter Kerri Neville sealed the deal for the visiting Hawks, claiming set four, 25-19, and the game, 3-1. 
 
Gebhardt finished at the top with 19 kills and three blocks. Herasme also collected three blocks of her own. Sophomore defensive specialist Nicole Cooke, senior libero Nicole Fellone and junior setter Haley Timarky all finished with two aces each. Furthermore, Timarky led the team with 45 assists and Neville guided the Hawks with 15 digs. 
 
"I thought we did a good job overall and look forward to a couple days of rest before gearing up for Oneonta next week," Giufre added.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back on the road Tuesday, as it battles Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta to open up State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play at the Dewar Arena. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.  

To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.