ROCHESTER, NY – Playing less than 24 hours after Friday night's grueling 3-2 victory over Elmira College, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team regrouped after a difficult start Saturday afternoon against Nazareth College to take three consecutive sets and win their final match of the regular season, 3-1. 
 
After losing the first set 25-21, the Hawks took sets three, four, and five by scores of 25-22, 25-21, and 25-23, riding strong performances all match long from Pat Wing, John Ronan, Brendan Spulnick and Carter Lotz, the four of whom combined for 47 of 50 total kills. 
 
"Overall, the team played well today," said Hawks coach Radu Petrus. "Wing and Ronan were unstoppable, and Spulnick and Lotz contributed." 
 
The first set was very competitive and close throughout, with both sides seemingly trading points for the majority of the set. After consecutive kills from Wing and Lotz tied the score at seven, a Brendan Spulnick error put the home team up 8-7. Errors on the other side from Antonio Sargent, both consecutive, enabled the Hawks to take a 9-8 edge, and a Spulnick kill made it 10-8. 
 
The squads continued to go back and forth, with the set getting tied up again after an Owen Wickens kill, one of his match-high 18. After an error from Lotz made the score 20-19 Golden Eagles, a Trent Caviness error tied the set at 20. Another kill from Wickens and an error from Lotz gave Nazareth a 22-20 edge, and Wickens closed the set out with consecutive aces, giving his squad a 25-21 win in set number one. 
Set number two was much the same as the first, with both squads playing very well back and forth. Wickens registered an ace and three kills, two of which came on a consecutive sequence, to get his team within one at 15-14 after a kill from Wing. On the next possession, Spulnick allowed Nazareth to tie the set when he hit out of bounds. Wing, though, scored another kill to put the Hawks up 16-15, and a Lotz block of Caviness gave SUNY New Paltz a little more cushion at 17-15. Despite Wickens responding with a kill, Antonio Sargent hit long and Wickens errored, putting the Hawks up by three, 19-16. A push by the home team, on a kill from Josh Weaver, cut the SUNY New Paltz lead to 21-20, but errors by Alex Bertino, a long serve from Sargent, and a kill on a slight tap over the net from Wing clinched the second set for the Hawks 25-22. 
 
The Golden Eagles got out to a fast start in the third frame, jumping to an 8-3 lead with a run that included one of Max Stuver's two aces on the day, and a kill and two aces from Wickens, who concluded the match with six aces in addition to his 18 kills, proving to be his team's most prolific player. The Hawks, down 10-5, slowly chipped away, getting within two after two Spulnick kills and a block, and a block by Nathan Petrik cut into the lead. An error by Nazareth's Colin Donahue made the score 12-10, and SUNY New Paltz tied the set up when, after Lotz scored a kill that made the count 14-12, Donahue and Sargent errored. Ronan and Josh Weaver then exchanged points to again get the score tied at 15. The road team started to distance themselves, however, when Spulnick blocked Weaver out of bounds, scored a kill, and Lotz aced, all three points coming after a Donahue error. The 19-15 edge proved enough for the Hawks to take the set, winning the third by a 25-21 count after the Golden Eagles' Jackson Camblin served long. 
 
"We received great inspiration from Cam Clark, who brought energy in sets three and four," said Petrus of his senior setter, who had 22 assists in the match. 
 
With only one set to go and having its opponent on the ropes after taking two consecutive sets, SUNY New Paltz was able to stave off Nazareth in what turned out to be the closest set of the match. 
 
The Hawks tied the set at three after a Lotz kill, but Sargent and Donahue answered with kills of their own, while Donahue blocked Spulnick at the net, giving the Golden Eagles a 6-3 lead. SUNY New Paltz got right back in the set though, tying the score at 11 with four straight points coming from a Tim Drake kill, a Wing ace, a Lotz block of Wickens, and yet another ace by Wing. Both sides proceeded to trade points all the way up until 20, after Drake served long. From there, Ronan scored his 12th and final kill of the match and Lotz aced. 
 
Up 22-20, Lotz served into the net, again giving Nazareth a glimmer of hope. Ronan came up clutch once again though, when he blocked Wickens. After Bryan Kaplan served out of bounds, Sargent returned the favor by serving long himself, putting the Hawks in the driver's seat with a 24-22 lead. Clark, though, served into the net, the third errant serve by the team down the stretch. However, Wing, in his typical clutch fashion, spiked a strong ball right down the middle that the Golden Eagles could not get to. With the 25-23 set four victory, the Hawks emerged victorious in the match 3-1, impressively taking three straight sets after losing the first. 
 
In addition to their advantage in kills, SUNY New Paltz also dominated in the hitting percentage category, with a mark of .379 to the home squad's .213. Nazareth did finish with a 9-4 advantage in the service ace department, thanks to Wickens' six. While Caviness' 31 assists heavily contributed to his side's total of 43, Shaffer's 23 and Clark's 22 accounted for 45 of the Hawks' 47, giving them the edge there. 
 
With the victory, SUNY New Paltz finished the regular season with a record of 19-5 and holders of first place in the United Volleyball Conference. As a result, the team will host the conference tournament on April 8, 9, and 10 from the Hawk Center. 
 
"The team did very well this season," Petrus said of a group that won 79 percent of its games. "For the UVC tournament, we need all our players in good shape, and our focus is on blocking discipline and serve reception."

*********************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.