New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball's winning streak came to an end Thursday at the hands of No. 2 nationally ranked Springfield College.
 
The Hawks opened up with a 25-23 win in the first, but a deciding second set turned the momentum, as the Pride pulled out the 25-23 victory to then win the third and fourth handily, 25-18, 25-16.
 
Chris Shanley aided in an early lead for SUNY New Paltz (13-4 overall) with back-to-back aces to push his team in front for the first time at 3-2. After Springfield (14-1) regained the lead at 6-5, the Hawks went on a four-point run instigated by Brendan Spulnick who ripped a swing from the outside the Pride couldn't manage. Pat Wing pushed SUNY New Paltz in front with a kill on a free ball. Evan Kane served for ace on the next point before Wing and Spulnick extended the run to four with a block on the Pride's Jarrett Anderson.
 
Springfield regained the lead at 15-14 and again at 16-15, but another four-point run by the Hawks pushed the hosts back in front. Evan Kane got the rally started after tipping a ball over a double block from the right side by Springfield. Spulnick served for ace and another hard serve led to a kill by Chris Shanley on a free ball off a Pride reception. Spulnick then served for ace once more leading to a Springfield timeout with SUNY New Paltz up, 19-16.
 
The Pride worked their way to a 22-21 lead following consecutive kills by Brennen Brandow, but Shanley set Kane to tie the score at 22 before a block by Kane and Ronan gave the Hawks the lead. After giving serve back to the Pride one last time, the Hawks countered with back-to-back points on a kill by Spulnick and then finishing a long rally following a miss-hit from Springfield's Chris Parker to end the first, which gave the hosts the 1-0 advantage.
 
 
The second was tied seven times, including at 21 and 22-all after SUNY New Paltz held a 20-18 cushion. Springfield tied the game at 20 on a double block by Parker and Anderson with Kane countering with a kill from the right side to keep a one-point lead for the Hawks at 21-20. Brandow helped his team side-out with a kill and then aided in the 22-21 lead, serving hard to force the Hawks into an attacking error. Wing finished a swing off a set from Kyle Shaffer to tie the game at 22, but two straight points by the Pride put them at set point and although SUNY New Paltz got within one, the visitors closed out the set on a swing from Liam York to tie the match at one set apiece. 
From there, the Pride seemingly controlled all of the momentum. They came out on a 5-0 run and never relinquished the advantage in the third. Their cushion fattened to as much as seven at 18-11, 19-12, 20-13 and again at 22-15 with Springfield earning set point at 24-16 after a kill by Anderson and ace by Chris Parker. The Pride finalized the third set win following a bad set by Shaffer.
 
The fourth was tight through the opening points with the Hawks going through a 3-0 run, capped by an ace from Wing to take an 11-10 lead. However, Springfield broke the game open from that point as it scored 12 of the next 15 points to own an eight-point advantage at 22-14. A serving error by SUNY New Paltz, followed by an ace for the Pride gave Springfield match point and Anderson closed the game with a kill a point later.
 
The Hawks hit just .089 with 35 kills in the match, while the Pride hit at a .282 clip with 44 kills. Spulnick led SUNY New Paltz offensively with 12.5 points following eight kills, two aces, four blocks and six digs. Kane totaled a team-high nine kills to go along with an ace and three blocks. Shanley finished with 12 points after recording eight kills four aces, two assists and tied for the team-most in digs with 11.
 
SUNY New Paltz will look to bounce back Friday night when it hosts Division I St. Francis-Brooklyn in the Hawk Center at 7 p.m. The Hawks will honor their graduating seniors prior to the match.

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