New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz earned another 3-0 sweep Saturday, defeating visiting Buffalo State, 25-18, 25-20, 26-24.
 
SUNY New Paltz improved to 17-2 overall and 6-1 in SUNYAC play and with the win officially clinched a berth into the conference tournament.
 
Mackenzie Williams, fresh off her first career SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Week honor, was the catalyst for the Hawks in the win as she finished with a game-high 17 kills, three aces, one block and eight digs, while hitting .314 and totaling a game-high 20.5 points.
 
SUNY New Paltz trailed early in set one, but a 7-0 run aided by good serving by Mia Waddell helped the Hawks re-take the lead and swing the set, 19-15. Following a serving error, SUNY New Paltz then scored the next five points to get to set point on back-to-back kills by Cate DiGiacomo and Williams. DiGiacomo then set Williams two points later to finalize the first set win.
 
The lead changed six different times to start the second set until SUNY New Paltz went on a 5-0 run to gain a 21-17 advantage with DiGiacomo spreading the offense around, setting Katie Steele, Letisha Perez and Makenzie Bills for kills to help the Hawks regain the advantage. SUNY New Paltz finished the set with three straight points with the Bengals helping the cause on an attacking error and a setting error to give SUNY New Paltz a 2-0 cushion.
 
The Hawks faced an 18-15 deficit before slowly working their way back. Kills by Perez and Steele trimmed the difference to one at 20-19 before another kill by Steele and an ace by Melanie Podstupka tied the score at 21-all. Buffalo State held set point at 24-20, but SUNY New Paltz answered with four-straight points started with a kill by Williams on an assist from DiGiacomo. DiGiacomo went back to Williams for a kill that tied the match at 24 and tough serving from Haylee Scarincio forced the Bengals into an attacking error to get the Hawks to match point. Victoria Konicki then ended the match on a kill on an assist by Scaricnio to close out the sweep.
 
DiGiacomo finished with 37 assists and two aces. Perez was a force in the middle, recording seven kills and leading the team with six blocks, two solo. Waddell and Podstupka combined for 30 digs to lead the team defensively.

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