Box Score

Oswego, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz's women's volleyball program moved back to .500 on the season Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Oswego State.

SUNY New Paltz (10-10 overall, 5-2 SUNYAC) played three close sets against the Lakers (7-12, 0-7 SUNYAC) to start the match before Oswego errors and well-placed hits by the Hawks allowed them to take an easy fourth set victory for the win. It's the program's 13th win over the Lakers all-time in 13 matchups.

SUNY New Paltz came off a tough loss Friday night against first place SUNY Cortland where the Hawks suffered just their second conference loss of the season, but did so in straight sets. The team responded though against Oswego and put up a solid performance.

"We competed really well for nine sets of volleyball against two tough opponents," said SUNY New Paltz coach Matt Giufre. "This week, we will do the same we do every week in working to be more consistent on offense and make sure our block is in the right place to frustrate opponent hitters." 

The Hawks did not start the match off well, as they put themselves in a 12-4 hole in the first set before Guifre used a timeout. After the break, SUNY New Paltz scored 11 of the next 13 points to take a 15-14 lead, and the back and forth set reached a 24-24 tie.  However, a bad set and an attacking error on the next two plays by the Hawks won the first set for the Lakers, 26-24.

"In the first set, Oswego came out hot and we didn't quite match their level of play which put us in a hole," Giufre said. "I'm really proud of how we kept battling to tie it late and almost steal it from them."

The next two sets were back-and-forth, but SUNY New Paltz prevailed in set two to tie the match at one apiece.

The Hawks played well in the second, hitting .286 as a team with 14 kills to earn the 25-21 win. They struggled offensively in the third, but their blocking turned the momentum as Oswego struggled to find space behind Letisha Perez and Victoria Konicki in the middle. The two combined for 13 of the team's 20 blocks on the night and aided in the Lakers poor hitting performance with the hosts hitting in the negative in the last two sets. 

"The best part was we built off how we fought back in the first when the second set started," Giufre said. "Oswego continued to play well, but our blocking started to really impact the match. Once that happened we also got rolling on offense through the fourth set. Our team has really grown this year in how we truly compete. Early on we'd get down and not be able to come back to win, and now we're not as phased by losing a set. Instead, we keep playing the game in front of us rather than dwell on the previous set. We're not perfect at it yet, but we are making strides." 

SUNY New Paltz ultimately took the third, 25-22  and then cruised through the fourth to handily earn the 3-1 victory. 

"Our blocking was a huge part of our win today," Giufre added. "Oswego served tough and we struggled at times with it, but our block and defenders really kept us alive. In that fourth set, we got rolling and fortunately put them away without going to a fifth. Offensively, we made some big strides this week. Victoria [Konicki] was huge in both matches and Mackenzie Williams was a big threat today. Others contributed with key kills and blocks and the win was a total [team] effort."

Mackenzie Williams led the attack for the Hawks, converting 19 points and 16 kills on a .205 hitting percentage, and contributed on defense with eight digs. Cate DiGiacomo finished with 34 assists and 12 digs, while Mia Waddell led on defense with 15 digs. Perez's 19 points, 10 kills, and nine blocks — five solo — were also crucial to the victory. Konicki ultimately finished with 11 kills, hitting a productive .556, while adding two digs and four blocks in the match. 

Freshman Ceci Brooks and Haylee Scarincio played well off the bench, as Brooks totaled four kills, while Scarincio stepped in well to help defensively, especially in serve recieve. 

"Vic and Mack were big on offense again today and you can't overlook Letisha's 19 points she scored for us. That was a major factor," Giufre said. "Haylee and Ceci came off the bench and played pivotal roles. All in all, a really good and important win."

SUNY New Paltz returns to action with SUNYAC play Friday, when it starts a four game road stretch at Buffalo State. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m.

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