The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team is headed west on I-90 for a key weekend matchup against SUNYAC foes Buffalo State and Fredonia.
 
Currently sporting a 3-0 SUNYAC record against eastern SUNYAC opponents, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Potsdam, the Hawks (8-8 overall, 3-0 SUNYAC) look to head home Saturday night with a pair of wins from out west.
 
"I expect us to be very competitive. It'll be a lot of fun. Winning two more conference games is really important. We're all going to be playing super hard and it'll be a really good game," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore outside Mackenzie Williams. "I think we all just need to connect with our setters and we're all a younger team, so as we get more game experience and everything, I think we've been improving a lot."
 
The Bengals (7-8, 2-3) entertain the Hawks Friday at 6 p.m. in the first game in their Sports Arena since 2019. SUNY New Paltz holds an 11-5 record over Buffalo State, with a 2-1 win in 2019. The Bengals split their away series against the Bears and Cardinals, falling to Potsdam, 3-1, before coming back on Saturday to earn a heart-stopping 3-2 victory over Plattsburgh.
 
Leading Buffalo State has been three key players— senior middle hitter Liz Schultheis (6'4, Holley, NY) tops the Bengals with 111 kills and 42 blocks, including 11 and six against the Cardinals, respectively. Junior defensive specialist Jenna Hungenschmidt (5'7, Clarence Center, NY) has 184 digs and 28 service aces, with 21 digs, six assists and five service aces against Plattsburgh. Not to be outdone, sophomore setter Riley Domin (5'5, Getzville, NY) leads the team with 287 assists, with a high of 31 against the Cardinals. Also, senior outside hitter Alena McKelvey (5'10, Buffalo, NY) contributed 13 kills and 16 digs in the five-set victory. 
The Hawks then head south on 1-90 for a Saturday afternoon match with the Blue Devils. Dating back to their first meeting in 1986, SUNY New Paltz leads the series 20-7, including 2019's 3-1 victory. Fredonia enters the weekend 8-8 overall and 4-1 in the SUNYAC. On the road in the North Country last weekend, the Blue Devils came away with two big SUNYAC wins, 3-0 over Plattsburgh and 3-1 against Potsdam. Emily Jones, a 5-foot, 9-inch middle from Plainfield, IL, paces Fredonia offensively with 190 kills on the season, while also ranking second on the team with 20 service aces. Libero Sierra Kim (5'3, Portville, NY) stands first for the Blue Devils with 221 digs and 26 service aces. Senior middle blocker Selena Brown (5'11, Queens, NY) has totaled a team-most 62 blocks and contributed 70 kills thus far. Second-year setter Kourtney Krchniak (5'10, Lockport, NY) has amassed an impressive 455 assists to lead the Blue Devils in the category.
 
SUNY New Paltz enters an important SUNYAC showdown with a .500 record against some of the toughest competition in the region. Last Saturday the Hawks split the afternoon with a 3-2 win over Hunter College and a 3-1 loss to NJAC power Kean University. Leading the team is first-year middle hitter Letisha Perez (6'1", Dominican Republic) who has totaled a team-most 123 kills, sophomore setter Cate DiGiacomo (5'8, West Hartford, CT) lead the team with 357 assists, junior libero Mia Waddell (5'3, Clifton Park, NY) adds 253 digs, junior middle hitter Victoria Konicki (6'4, Voorheesville, NY) has added 39 blocks, while Williams (5'10, Windsor, NY) has contributed 19 services aces thus far.
 
Against the Cougars Saturday, Williams, Perez, Konicki and sophomore outside Samantha Cox (5'8, Sag Harbor, NY) each had eight kills, with Waddell adding 18 digs. DiGiacomo and fellow sophomore setter Dana Collins (5'7, Far Hills, NJ) added 13 and 18 assists, respectively.
 
"I just think we all need to connect on offense and defense. We have really strong passers and really strong defense and when we all connect it'll all go really good," Williams said. "I think we have a lot of potential and I think we're just going to keep improving as we go through our season and getting more experience being college athletes because we're such a young team."
 
First serve for the Hawks is set for 6 p.m. Friday against the Bengals and 1 p.m. Saturday against the Blue Devils.

Buffalo State/Fredonia Preview video featuring Mackenzie Williams

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