Hoboken, NJ --- The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team fell to Stockton University Friday in five sets (24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 10-25, 17-19) to open up the Ducks Classic. 
 
"We took a big step forward from earlier this week in the way we competed and I was very happy to see that," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre on his team's performance. "That fourth set in a lot of ways reminded me of our second set against Williams a couple weeks ago where momentum just snowballed against us. The team showed great composure letting that go and coming out very strong in the fifth set. We were able to create a big lead but unfortunately we are still learning how to close out teams with authority and credit Stockton for not letting up even when they were down." 
With the loss, the Hawks drop to 5-5 on the season (0-1 SUNYAC), while the Ospreys improved to 11-2 overall (1-0 NJAC). 
 
Stockton University opened up set one with a 1-4 lead, but not until two attack errors from the Ospreys, a service ace from junior Haley Timarky and two kills from junior Julie Greenspan gave SUNY New Paltz a 6-4 advantage. A ball handling error by Timarky tied the set at 20 and later saw the Ospreys regain the lead. Blocks by junior Demi Herame and Greenspan evened the set at 24, but Julie Kohloff finished the set with two kills, to close it out 24-26 win for Stockton.
 
After building a 12-8 advantage in set two, the Ospreys regained momentum to even the score at 15. A kill by senior Maddie Van Pelt gave the Hawks another chance to maintain a 17-16 lead. Stockton wasn't able to capitalize, as a bad set from Emily Sullivan and back-to-back attack errors by Charlotte Leon and Haley Green handed SUNY New Paltz the win in the second set, closing it out, 25-19. 
 
Set three saw the Hawks hold a 10-7 mark, but the Ospreys scored six consecutive points to give them a 10-13 lead. Giufre was forced to use a timeout to settle his team in. SUNY New Paltz tied the set at 18 after blocks from Greenspan and Herasme. Greenspan collected two kills to put her team up 20-18. The Hawks never lost momentum and concluded the set with a 25-23 win, while at the same time gaining a 2-1 advantage over the Ospreys. 
 
Despite being held down by Stockton in set four, 10-25, the Hawks opened up the final set all fired up as blocks from Van Pelt and senior Kerri Neville put SUNY New Paltz in front, 7-2. 

The Hawks stayed ahead after a kill from sophomore Courtney Gebhardt boosted the score 13-7. The foes came from behind to cut the lead to one at 13-12, forcing the Hawks coaching staff to call for a timeout. The Ospreys took their first lead of the set with a kill by Caity Ullmer. Both teams exchanged points until point 17 as kills from Christie Louer and Emily Sullivan sealed the deal for Stockton, capturing a 17-19 set win and 3-2 victory over SUNY New Paltz. 
 
The game leaders for the Hawks saw Timarky on top with 49 assists. Van Pelt amassed 15 kills, while also leading SUNY New Paltz with 27 digs. Neville contributed with five aces and six blocks. Furthermore, Herasme excelled on the night, collecting 12 kills, four blocks, and a hitting percentage of .348. 
 
"Demi played with authority offensively and really executed at a high level and Kerri's blocking is what set us apart in the third set," added Giufre. "We had quality contributions from everyone but unfortunately came up short. Tomorrow we look forward to growing even more against two quality teams and see if we can get better at finishing matches."
 
The Hawks will seek two wins to conclude the Ducks Classic Saturday as they take on the hosts, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Cabrini University at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. 
 
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