Springfield, MA — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team (7-2, 0-1 UVC) defeated Rivier College (4-1) on Saturday night as the Hawks took the win, 3-1 (20-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-15, 25-23) at the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic.
 
Hawks senior and captain Matthew Grace broke the SUNY New Paltz school record for assists on the night. Grace tallied 42 assists to break the school record of 3,709, and now sits first in the record books with 3,742 assists thus far in his four-year career.
 
"It feels really cool to be the new record holder," Grace said. "For me, I believe this stat to be a true culmination of all my teammates and coach's work over the past 10 years."
 
The Hawks' setter totaled a service ace and was 3-for-3 on his kill attempts, with some smart play at the net.
 
SUNY New Paltz won 3-1, but lost the first set of the game. The Hawks weren't ready to play, hitting with a percentage of just .167 on 12 kills, while Rivier hit seven kills with a .545 hitting percentage. Hawks sophomore outside hitter Brendan Spulnick had two consecutive kills and brought his team up, 18-17 in the first, but a service error by sophomore Dan LaRosa allowed the Raiders to tie the set at 18-18. Two blocks Rivier pushed it over the edge of a balanced set, and the Hawks fell, 25-20.
 
The Hawks recovered their mental state and switched on in the second set, and the rest of the game was a different story. In the second set they kept the Raiders to a .040 hitting percent as their defense took over, causing six errors out of the opposition seven attempts.
 
Spulnick served two aces to push the score to 9-3, as SUNY New Paltz stepped on the gas. The Hawks' opposite did not stop there. Assisted by Grace, the sophomore added two more kills, increasing the lead to 15-9.
 
"An assist doesn't happen without a pass and a kill, so it's truly a team stat," Grace added. "I want to thank my family especially for all the support they've given me throughout this long journey.
 
"Hopefully with a National Championship at the end because that's what is truly important."
 
Senior opposite Aaron Carrk also tallied two kills late to extend the lead, 24-11 as the Hawks tied the game, finishing with a game-high 20 kills in a dominating performance.
 
The third set was much of the same, as SUNY New Paltz led once more at 12-6, thanks to a kill by senior opposite Riley Dolan, another one of setter Grace's game-high 42 assists.
 
In the fourth, senior middle blocker Nick O'Malley contributed with two consecutive strikes from behind the line, pushing the Hawks to a 9-3 lead. Grace scored on a ball handling error from the Raiders and then assisted Spulnick again to lead 16-9. The Hawks won the set with an Aaron Carrk kill, assisted for Grace's record-breaking 3,740th assist of his spectacular career.
 
SUNY New Paltz will face Baruch College next on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in New York, NY

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