New Paltz, NY — Experience is everything, and the jump from high school to collegiate volleyball can be immense. Last year, the majority of the State University of New York at New Paltz roster had never played a single collegiate game but heading into 2022 the Hawks boast a veteran group, returning all but two from last year's team that earned a spot in the SUNYAC semifinals.
 
"Last year we only had a few people who played volleyball in college, so now almost everyone is a returner and has experience," said Hawks junior setter and co-captain Cate DiGiacomo. "We put in a lot of work in our spring season and our offseason, so I feel like that's boosted our confidence a lot and it's got our offense more in sync. I'm just excited to see how all of our hard work in the spring pays off."
 
After losing five straight matches against formidable competition to start last season, SUNY New Paltz bounced back to gain much needed confidence by rolling off a five-game winning streak. Learning along the way, the Hawks ended with an 11-14 overall record, but an impressive 6-3 mark in SUNYAC play — good enough to earn the program's 17th-straight SUNYAC Tournament berth. Maturity of played earned the Hawks a 3-0 sweep over Fredonia in the quarterfinal round, a team that had defeated them in straight sets in the regular season. Entering the semifinals against Cortland, SUNY New Paltz couldn't matchup against a prolific Red Dragon team that went onto capture the conference championship title.
 
 
"We didn't get as far as we wanted to in the SUNYAC Tournament last year, but we have a lot of returners back, so we have really high expectations back for this season," DiGiacomo added. "We've been making a lot of pushes with speeding up our offense and just working on everything so hopefully it will work out really in our favor."
 
Returning the bulk of their starting rotation, the Hawks are eager to make the second-year jump and put themselves back on top of the conference standings. After winning the SUNYAC Championship in 2018, the team floated around .500 during both their following seasons in 2019 and 2021. They're anticipating different results heading into 2022 with their top point, assist and defensive leaders back for what they hope is the program's fourth conference title run.
 
"I've played in two full seasons in 2019 and 2021 and in both of those seasons we really didn't play up to our full potential, so this season after all the hard work we've put in in the spring season I'm really expecting us to put in 100 every single day and really play up to our potential," said senior libero and co-captain Mia Waddell. "Last season our biggest struggle was the mental game and so far this preseason everyone is super motivated and everyone is on the same page, and it seems like we're all very determined to play our best and give everything every practice."
 
Leading the charge for 2022 is Second-Team All-SUNYAC selection, junior outside hitter Mackenzie Williams (Windsor, NY). Williams paced SUNY New Paltz with 248 kills, was second in services aces (33) and third in digs (206) last season. Joining her is sophomore middle Letisha Perez (Dominican Republic) who followed statistically in kills with 202, while adding 61 blocks in her first year. DiGiacomo (West Hartford, CT) led the team in assists, finishing with 7-3 to go along with 35 aces and 222 digs. Waddell (Clifton Park, NY) topped the team with 389 digs and was third with 27 aces. Senior middle Victoria Konicki (Voorheesville, NY) had a team leading 72 blocks in 2021, along with being third in kills (170).
 
The Hawks held two scrimmages over the preseason against Dominican and Montclair and won both, playing more cohesively together offensively with the offseason work showing early.
 
"In our scrimmage we played really well against Dominican College," DiGiacomo said. "Everyone was getting a lot of touches on things, we had a lot of hustle plays and our in-system offense and defense looked really good, so I think from last season we've elevated our play a lot and we're looking forward to showing it off."
 
SUNY New Paltz opens up their season in typical fashion, taking on some of the region's top Division III programs. At the Kean University tournament Sept. 2-3, the Hawks will play hosting Kean, along with Johnson & Wales University and Dickinson College. Both the Cougars and Wildcats saw postseason action in 2021. The team will then open their home schedule Sept. 7 against Western Connecticut State before beginning SUNYAC action Sept. 14 at home against Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta.
 
Hawks are set to face Kean Friday at 5 p.m.

Season Preview Featuring Cate DiGiacomo and Mia Waddell


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