New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz advanced past the quarterfinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament Tuesday night in the Hawk Center after defeating the No. 6 seeded Buffalo State Bengals, 3-0: 25-12, 25-13, 25-14.
 
The Hawks got out to a hot start to start the first set, jumping to a 19-10 lead before Buffalo State was forced to call a timeout with Mia Waddell serving hard on the following point to help cause an attack error by the Bengals, creating a 10-point cushion. Buffalo State earned two points back after consecutive hitting errors by SUNY New Paltz, but the hosts closed out the first set with five-straight points as Haylee Scarincio came in, served through the stretch and aided in the 25-12 first set win.
 
After rolling to a 6-0 lead to start the second, the Bengals fought back to get within six at 13-7. SUNY New Paltz continued to extend its cushion and ended the second set with five straight points once again, as Melanie Podstupka served through the stretch, while Mackenzie Williams recorded kills on the last three points to boost her team's advantage, 2-0.
 
Buffalo State took an 8-5 lead to begin the third set and held onto the cushion until consecutive hitting errors allowed the Hawks to gain a one-point advantage at 10-9. The score was tied four more times at 10, 11, 12 and 14-all before SUNY New Paltz stormed back with 10-straight points to end the match. Podstupka once again served through the run with Williams the catalyst, delivering four kills, followed by Victoria Konicki with three, while setter Cate DiGiacomo assisted on all seven points, along with a set to Makenzie Bills to aid in the run. Konicki and Williams got their team to match point on a big double block on the right side, before a setting error by the Bengals cemented the 3-0 score.
 
 
"We've been working on keeping our mentality, being aggressive throughout all of our play," DiGiacomo said. "And even when they scored some points on us, they're a good team, we knew that was going to happen, but we kept being aggressive, kept swinging and that's what we've been emphasizing, and we definitely executed on that tonight."  
The Hawks were dominant in their tournament opening victory. They hit a productive .337 in the match with 46 kills and nine aces. Williams led the team with 21 kills, followed by Konicki and Bills with eight and seven, respectively. Waddell and Podstupka finished with a team-leading 12 digs, while Williams followed with nine. Konicki totaled a game-high three blocks, followed by Williams who had two. DiGiacomo finished with a season-high four aces and a game-leading 34 assists to go along with seven digs and a block.
 
"Going into the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament, we knew that Buff State was a very strong team," DiGiacomo said. "Our first conference matchup with them was a hard-fought match and we've just been preparing this week and all of last week, and through this past weekend for how we can stay really aggressive, and I think we executed it well tonight."
 
Next up for SUNY New Paltz is a rematch against No. 2 seed The College at Brockport. The Hawks lost a heart-breaking five set match on the road to the Golden Eagles earlier in the season. They'll have the opportunity to avenge that loss Friday when they compete in the SUNYAC Semifinal at 7 p.m. in No. 1 seed SUNY Cortland's home gym.
 
"We are very, very excited for another chance to play Brockport," DiGiacomo said. "We're just going to work these next two practices, cleaning up everything we need to do and we're ready to go and take them on again."


Post-Game Interview with Cate DiGiacomo


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