Oneonta, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz secured its final regular-season SUNYAC victory against the Oneonta Red Dragons in three sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-17). 

SUNY New Paltz came out in the first set even with the Red Dragons, and both teams were able to put points on the board. Two kills from Jamie Albrecht gave the Hawks the 9-7 lead against the home team, but Oneonta retaliated quickly with a five-point run. For the remainder of the set, the Red Dragons could not produce as much offense, as they let up six points defensively as well, which gave SUNY New Paltz its largest lead of the match, 21-15. Three consecutive kills from the Hawks solidified the victory, and SUNY New Paltz walked away with the first set, 25-17. 

Similarly to the first, the second set started off as a back-and-forth contest between the competitors. Letisha Perez gave the Hawks momentum to go on a small run off a kill, which pushed the visitors ahead, 11-7. Oneonta attempted to chip away at the lead, but SUNY New Paltz's vigorous offense kept the Red Dragons trailing. Two critical errors in the final points of the game from the home team put the Hawks on top again, and they took the second set, 25-18. 

The Hawks kept their rotations sharp going into the third, coming out to a quick 11-2 lead. Oneonta scored three in a row, but a block from Lexi Stragalas and Perez shut them down. SUNY New Paltz continued to outscore the Red Dragons, reaching a staggering 21-9 lead. Oneonta was forced to score to keep themselves in the game, and in a combination of kills and attack errors from the Hawks, they were able to fight back to a six-point deficit, trailing 17-23. It was not enough, as a kill from Samantha Cox and a service ace from Melanie Podstupka gave the Hawks their final two points, coming out on top with a score of 25-17, and winning the match. 
"We're very pleased to finish up regular season conference play with another win," said Hawks Coach Matt Giufre. "We did a lot of good things [from] start to finish and our blocking was very strong – we've worked on it a lot and it's coming along nicely." 

Williams, Stragalas, and Perez led the way in blocks, with two block assists a piece. Albrecht prevailed offensively with 12 kills total, followed by Perez and Williams with 11 each. Cate DiGiacomo had 33 assists and 11 digs. 

Moving forward, the Hawks will return to action and face three non-conference teams in order to prepare for the SUNYAC tournament. 

"These next few non-conference matches give us an opportunity to work on some new things against good teams so we're as prepared as possible for the playoffs," Giufre said. 

SUNY New Paltz will go on the road to face the Drew Rangers in Madison, NJ. The game begins at 7 p.m. 

********************** 

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.