New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz stayed undefeated overall Wednesday, while also collecting its first SUNYAC win of the season after defeating visiting SUNY Oneonta in straight sets.
 
After a tight first set, the Hawks rolled and won, 25-19, 25-18, 25-17 while finishing with one their best offensive nights of the season, hitting .310 as a team in the match and tallying 39 kills to tie a season-high in a three-set match.
 
"We came out a little sluggish and Oneonta came out really strong in that bothered us a little bit, but we regrouped after a timeout and settled in and played really good volleyball," said SUNY New Paltz coach Matt Giufre. "I thought Cate executed our game plan, and our hitters as well, perfectly of what we wanted to do early to establish certain positions and then open up other positions later. Our serve-receive today was the best it's been all season by far. We really got rolling offensively and they've been working really hard. I mean most of the passers were in today for early reps and they're just working really hard and did a fantastic job."
 
The Red Dragons led midway through the first set, owning a two-point lead up until a three-point run by the Hawks at 14-12 swung the opening stanza. A serving error by Oneonta aided in the stretch with Mackenzie Williams serving well, forcing the Red Dragons into an attacking error, which was followed by a kill from Makenzie Bills on the right side to give SUNY New Paltz its first lead since 9-8.
 
 
The set was tied at 15-all, but another service error gave the Hawks back the advantage and they never let go from then on. Oneonta got as close as 20-18, but SUNY New Paltz responded with four-straight points to get to set point on an ace from Mia Waddell. An attacking error finalized the first, 25-19.
  Following a kill by Kayla Rende, which brought the second set to 16-15 in favor of the Hawks, the hosts scored on six of the next seven points with Katie Steele and Williams each tallying two kills and Haylee Scarincio a kill to push SUNY New Paltz ahead comfortably at 22-16. The two teams traded points until Williams got her team to set point on a hard swing that found the open court with the Red Dragons closing out the second once more on another attacking error.
 
Back-to-back aces by Williams gave the Hawks their largest lead of the third at 18-13 with Victoria Konicki taking over in the last six points with DiGiacomo going back to her 6-foot, 4-inch middle four times for kills, including at match point to help them improve to 1-0 in conference play.
 
"They've just been working really hard since day one," Giufre said. "Our practices are super intense and focused, and exactly what they want. I just think they're starting to understand what we're capable of and really their confidence level is growing day by day. I think we saw that after the beginning of the first set today and we'll keep going back to practice and keep getting better at stuff."
 
Williams led the team with 14 kills on 24 attempts, hitting .375 in the win to go along with two aces and five digs. Konicki followed with eight kills, hitting .333 with one block, while DiGiacomo finished with 30 assists with one ace and five digs.
 
"Offensively, we looked really look and their middles are really good," Giufre said. "[Clara Clueton] has been really good all of her career. It's feels like she's been here every year, and Ashanti [Davis] is another one. They're tough. We can slow them down a little bit but, I thought our serving and our side-out game was really good today."
 
The Hawks enter the weekend with two more non-conference matches, playing at Smith College to face the hosting Pioneers along with Wheaton College Saturday at 5p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
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