Fredonia, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team went on the road and knocked off No. 4 seed Fredonia State to advance to the SUNYAC semifinal round for the first time since 2018.
 
The last time the Hawks (14-13 overall, 6-3 SUNYAC) faced the Blue Devils (12-13, 6-3) on the same floor Oct. 9, the hosts swept them in straight sets. SUNY New Paltz returned the favor Tuesday, defeating Fredonia, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20 to put its 2021 season to an end.
 
"We played one of our most complete matches tonight offensively and defensively," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre. "I knew this team has always had the physical tools to play at a high level but it's taken a bit longer to learn how to compete and be mentally resilient during the natural ups and downs of a match."
 
SUNY New Paltz opened up with a 9-3 advantage, leading to an early timeout in the first by the Blue Devils. The stoppage of play didn't deter the Hawks, as they flexed their cushion to 11-4 before giving back serve following a long attempt on a swing by Lauren Abbott. Fredonia crept back in slowly until an eight-point run gave the Blue Devils the lead at 16-14. SUNY New Paltz showed its maturity to not let the unanswered stretch decide the set, as it tied the score at 17-all following a kill by Abbott and a block by Mackenzie Williams on consecutive points. 
The two teams exchanged points until a 4-0 run helped the Hawks re-gain control and the advantage, 22-19. Fredonia worked back to get within one at 23-22, but SUNY New Paltz closed out the first set win following a kill by Victoria Konicki and an attacking error by the Blue Devils.
 
The Hawks hung onto a 12-9 lead midway through the second and after a three-point run gave Fredonia a 14-13 advantage, they responded with three straight points of their own, fueled by an attacking error, then a hitting error by the Blue Devils and capped with a kill by Williams to put SUNY New Paltz out in front, 16-14. The set remained tight for the next few points, but the Hawks never relinquished their cushion and ultimately finished with seven straight points to claim a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
SUNY New Paltz didn't see a lead until midway through the third, trailing by as many as four following a kill by Brinn Shaughnessy to bring the Blue Devils advantage to 15-11. A serving error gave the Hawks life, siding out and adding on three more points following a kill on the right side by Makenzie Bills, an ace by Cate DiGiacomo and a kill by Williams to tie the game at 15-all leading to a Fredonia timeout.
 
The Blue Devils re-gained the one-point advantage following the break with Shaughnessy beating the Hawks double block on the outside, but Williams started heating up with DiGiacomo finding her outside for a monster swing to tie the game again. With the Hawks holding serve, Letisha Perez subbed in at outside and DiGiacomo found her on the next point, as she beat the block for a kill. Williams capped off the run with an ace to add to the lead at 20-16, and although Erin Callahan helped her team side-out on the next point following a kill, Fredonia gave up three points on errors, including two on back-to-back blocks by Bills and Konicki to help the Hawks to a 23-17 advantage.
 
The Blue Devils didn't go away easily as they cut the deficit to three. On several occasions this season the late run would have gone the oppositions way, but the Hawks showed their maturity playing in their 27th match of the year and stopped the bleeding there. DiGiacomo went to Konicki in the middle to get the team to match point and side out with Fredonia hitting into the net on the next play to close out the match in straight sets.
 
"Tonight, we showed how far we've come in that aspect," Giufre said. "I thought Cate did a fantastic job distributing the sets, and hitters kept coming through. And, I can't say enough about our passers and defenders. They read the game extremely well."
 
SUNY New Paltz finished with one of its most productive and evenly balanced offensive nights of the season. Five different players had at least three kills with Williams leading the way with 13, followed by Konicki and Bills with seven and five, respectively. The team hit .238 in the match and DiGiacomo finished with 29 assists.
 
Williams added a team-high 10 digs, while Melanie Podstupka contributed with two of SUNY New Paltz's five aces, to go along with six digs. Abbott added three kills and a team-high three blocks, while Konicki hit a team-high .583 on 15 attempts, while adding two solo blocks.
 
The season continues for the Hawks who will travel to SUNY Cortland to take on the top-seeded Red Dragons in their home gym at 7 p.m. The winner will play the winner of No. 2 Geneseo and No. 3 Brockport Saturday in Cortland at 4 p.m.   

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