New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz men's volleyball team took to the court for another United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match-up, this time against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Hawks defeated the Engineers, 3-1.
The match started in close competition as SUNY New Paltz and MIT went point for point during the entirety of the first set, which prefaced what would happen for the remainder of the match. It wasn't until an error by Engineer Riley Oh gave the Hawks a two point lead, 23-21. After a timeout by MIT, two kills by senior middle blocker John Ronan and senior outside hitter Brendan Spulnick secured the first set for SUNY New Paltz.
Though it was an energetic end to the first set, the Hawks came into the second set struggling to find their rhythm. The Engineers took the first point off the first serve. MIT proceeded to take the lead causing SUNY New Paltz to play catch-up. Simple mistakes made by the Hawks allowed the Engineers to keep their lead with easy points, resulting in MIT taking the second set, 25-21.
With the match tied at 1-1, SUNY New Paltz needed to stay focused and present in each play, even when errors were made, to keep their level of competition high.
"Volleyball is like a short-term memory type sport," said Hawks middle blocker Pat Wing. "There's a ton of errors made in a volleyball match, like it's not a big deal you know... if you have a few errors then you have a game winning block or kill everyone forgets about those errors so,it's not a big deal. It's just important to keep your head up and keep swinging hard and playing hard."
Gallery: (2-19-2022) Men's Volleyball vs. MIT 2/19/22
The Hawks took the first point in set three. Yet, the Engineers answered quickly and took an early lead. Fortunately, SUNY New Paltz closed the gap soon after and found their rhythm. There was a clear energy shift on the court from the second set. The Hawks remained in the lead throughout, but the competition remained stiff. MIT came back to bring the score to 24-23 after several volleys between the two teams.
Once the Engineers took the lead, SUNY New Paltz called a timeout. The first serve after, MIT caused a serving error, giving the Hawks the tying point. The two teams continued to go point for point in an intense battle for the set. A deadly kill by Spulnick gave SUNY New Paltz a 28-27 lead. Senior outside hitter Chris Shanley finished up the set with a far left kill to get the Hawks the set win, 29-27.
"We knew we were pretty compatible in skill play, so we knew it was going to be a back-and-forth game," Wing said. "But, we knew if we played our game we would be able to take them down, which we did. Every time they went on a run and we called time-out, or we went on a run and they called time out, we just talked about keeping up the level of play. Or like if we were down, just blocking out all the noise and focusing on ourselves and getting better every play, and that's what we did."
The energy was light for SUNY New Paltz going into the fourth set. Several serving errors hurt their offensive effort and the Hawks struggled gaining momentum. Fortunately, the score remained close again. Neither team gained a large advantage but once the Engineers started to make a run, New Paltz took their first timeout of the set.
The timeout allowed the Hawks to refocus. A Wing kill tied up the game 20-20. Two kills followed by Shanley and freshman opposite hitter Evan Kane secured the fourth set and the win for SUNY New Paltz.
The Hawks expected a tight competition against MIT, and that is exactly what they saw.
"Our expectations today were that they were going to be a good team, like they were. Big conference game. We have a lot of tough games coming up, so it was very important that we got this out of the way and I'm glad we did so," said Wing. "Very proud of everyone on the team, even the bench guys, one through 15, all the guys were involved, engaged... very proud of everyone and how they played."
The Hawks head into a full week of practice before their next outing in their home gym against UVC rival St. John Fisher, Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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