Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 HOBOKEN, NJ – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team had its first tri-match of the season on Sunday afternoon, first defeating New Jersey City University 25-23, 25-19, 25-19, but then falling in four sets to Stevens Institute of Technology, 25-20, 20-25, 15-25, 21-25. The matches were originally scheduled for Saturday but were pushed back by one day due to the snowstorm in the northeast. 
 
The Hawks pushed their record to 5-3 following the Sunday split after handing the Gothic Knights (2-1) their first loss of the season, while the Ducks improved to 5-0 after sweeping both teams.
 
In the first matchup against NJCU, SUNY New Paltz was strong at the net throughout all three sets, with Tim Drake coming through with some big finishes to give his team early points as they took an early 8-7 lead. Pat Wing was also big in the first set, as a major kill from him put the Hawks up 10-8. A few points later, Drake extended the lead to 15-11 after another kill. 
 
The Gothic Knights battled back though, playing a strong defensive game and getting within two at 23-21 as the set drew to a close. Drake made his presence felt with a kill that gave the Hawks a 25-23 first set win. 
In the second, NJCU stayed close early on, with the Hawks leading 10-7. Wing once again connected on a big kill to give SUNY New Paltz a four point edge at 14-10, and Chris Shanley finished at the net to give the Hawks a 19-15 lead that led to a NJCU timeout. SUNY New Paltz closed out the second set, 25-19. 
 
In the third, the Hawks provided much of the same, with strong play at the net by Shanley, Wing, and Brendan Spulnick. Leading 22-19, it was Adam Brawn finishing with his left hand to the middle of the floor as the Gothic Knight defense was unable to make the save. Drake put the SUNY New Paltz one point away from victory, and 6-foot, 7-inch Nathan Petrik hammered home the ball for the match-winning point. 
 
Wing led SUNY New Paltz with 14 kills, while Drake had 12. It was an area the Hawks dominated the Gothic Knights in, as they held a 47-22 advantage in the match. Kyle Shaffer led SUNY New Paltz with 37 assists. Leo Ferrari was the leader in the same category for NJCU with 16. 
 
"We played well in the first matchup against NJCU and had great teamwork," said Hawks coach Radu Petrus. 
 
In its second matchup of the day against Stevens, SUNY New Paltz got off to a good start in the opening set. The Hawks played good defense and was able to score two aces in the early going as well as kills from John Ronan, Wing, and Drake as both teams were tied at five. A kill by Spulnick made it 8-6, but the Ducks kept it close thanks to Koby Sherman, who provided two kills to tie the opening set at 12. SUNY New Paltz took a 14-13 lead on a Spulnick point, but a point from Connor Feulner made the score 16-15. Nathan Lancia had a serve go into the net which tied the score, 16-16. Stevens then went out of bounds twice, and kills from Drake and Shaffer put the Hawks up by five at 22-17. They held off Stevens from there, winning 25-21 in the opening set. 
 
The Ducks found their groove in the second set, however, and kept SUNY New Paltz from the lead the rest of the way. Two kills from Sherman gave them a 3-1 lead early, and a Spulnick hit out of bounds pushed the lead to three, 4-1. The Hawks made a game of it though, tying the score at 10 after a Drake kill. The two teams went back and forth, as Sherman got another kill, Louden Moran and Chris Varseveld secured aces, and Shaffer and Drake got kills to make the score 19-17 for the host team. A point from Jack Fyda made it 21-17 Stevens, and the Ducks took the set by the same margin, with a Sherman ace pushing the score to set point before closing out and the set two points later, 25-21. 
 
Set number three was the roughest for SUNY New Paltz on the day, as Sherman had two kills in the early going that helped his team get a 6-1 lead. The Hawks made it close at 10-8, but after a Feulner point, Stevens went on a run to extend the lead to eight at 16-8 after Drake hit into the net. SUNY New Paltz scored one point over a stretch where the Ducks' Moran, Feulner and Sherman combined for blocks and kills to swell the lead to 13 at 22-9. The Hawks only got as close as nine the rest of the way after a Christopher Larkin ace, as Sherman emerged again for a kill to close the set out 25-15. 
 
In the fourth, SUNY New Paltz regrouped and at one point cut the Stevens' lead to one at 13-12 after Lancia hit the ball long. The Ducks' defense ramped up though, as a block from Jack Fyda made it 15-13, but a hitting error gave Stevens an 18-13 advantage. The Hawks cut it to three, 18-15, after Lancia again hit one out of bounds, and then got it to one after a Drake ace made it 19-18. Despite two late points from SUNY New Paltz's Matt Logel, Stevens secured a final winning point to close the match out in four sets by winning the final set 25-21. 
 
"We started well," said Petrus of his team's performance against the Ducks. "For the rest of the match, we made a few easy mistakes and gave their players more confidence."
 
Drake had nine kills to lead the Hawks offensively, while Spulnick and Wing added seven and five, respectively. Shaffer registered 22 assists. Both teams registered 38 kills apiece. 
 
"Wing did well today in both matches," said Petrus. "Dan LaRosa played great defense today." La Rosa had 17 digs against NJCU and seven against Stevens. 
 
Despite the loss to Stevens, a team that was ranked eighth coming into the game, SUNY New Paltz still boasts a solid 5-3 record as they go into Tuesday's matchup against Arcadia in Glenside, PA. 

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