Montclair, NJ — The State University of New York at New Paltz's women's volleyball program were on both ends of 3-0 sweeps against Farmingdale State and Montclair State at the Montclair State University Tri-Match Saturday.

The day started with a 3-0 win against the Rams (3-7), extending SUNY New Paltz's (5-6) winning streak to five, but lost a tough fought match to the Red Hawks (4-6) in its second match to stop the winning streak.

"We came here today to compete and keep getting better as a team against two different style opponents," said Hawks coach Matt Guifre. "After a great first match, Montclair took us out of rhythm and we were unable to get much going." 

SUNY New Paltz dominated the first set against the Rams, netting four aces and 12 kills and taking advantage of six attacking errors — 11 overall — for a 25-8 first set blowout win. Guifre's team didn't look back after that, never trailing in a single set and increasing their kill total on the match to 41 en route to winning the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-12, and sweeping the match.

Junior right side Makenzie Bills led the Hawks with 11.5 points and 11 kills on a .385 hitting percentage. She also contributed on defense with two digs. Sophomore setter Cate DiGiacomo had 18 assists in the match, while junior Mia Waddell led the team in digs with 12. As a team, the Hawks dominated with 41 kills over the Rams' 18. 

SUNY New Paltz didn't fare as well in it's match against the Red Hawks. Both teams went back and forth in a heated first set battle, in which the Hawks would tie at 23-23 after a serving error, but the Red Hawks took the next two points to win the set, 25-23. They continued their streak into the second half with four straight points to start the second set en route to a 13-5 start. SUNY New Paltz cut the deficit to 18-16, but was on the receiving end of four kills, two errors and a service ace as the Red Hawks closed out the second set 25-19 en route to a commanding 2-0 lead.

The Hawks took their first lead in a set since the first with a 3-2 advantage early, but began to struggle with attacking errors and defense in the set. After bringing the score to 11-9, the Red Hawks were in complete control the rest of the way, winning 14 of the next 19 points to win the set 25-14 and sweeping the match.

"Montclair has a great lineup led by a fantastic setter, and defensively made it really tough on us to score points," said Guifre.

Sophomore outside hitter Mackenzie Williams led the attack for the Hawks in the match, accumulating 10.5 points and eight kills in the loss. Waddell and DiGiacomo were the defensive leaders with 16 and 13 digs, respectively. DiGiacomo increased her team leading assist total to 241 with 22 in the match for 40 on the day. 

"We have to keep working at being more consistent at all aspects of the game," Guifre said. "This team has worked hard all year and come a long way since the first couple weeks. I have full confidence in our ability to bounce back and keep getting better. Our best play is still ahead of us."

SUNY New Paltz will return to SUNYAC play on Friday, when they return home to the Hawk Center to play Plattsburgh State. The match is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.

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