New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz entered the weekend in a pivotal two-game matchup.
 
On Friday, the Hawks came from behind to win two straight sets and clinch a five set victory over a team in SUNY Brockport that ended their season in 2022 and on Friday, again they triumphed in the fifth but this time making sure to regroup after giving up a 2-0 lead to take down visiting SUNY Geneseo Saturday in the Hawk Center, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 15-11.
 
"When you're down 2-1 at home against another strong conference school that you always battle with and come back and win, and then when you're up 2-0, similar to a situation last year and lose the next two and the thought of potentially getting reverse swept comes into play you really see what you're really made of," said SUNY New Paltz coach Matt Giufre. "We have a veteran team that plays maturely and won't ride the wave of emotions and will just stay locked in and logical about what we need right now."
 
 
The Knights brought the first as close as 14-13 but a 5-1 run gave the Hawks a 19-14 advantage following a kill by Mackenzie Williams from Cate DiGiacomo. Geneseo came back to close the gap by two at 21-19, but SUNY New Paltz closed out as two attacking errors helped the hosts to a three-point lead before earning set point on an ace from Jamie Albrecht. Samantha Cox then solidified the 1-0 lead three points later, hitting a kill at 25-23 off an assist by Melanie Podsutpka.
 
The second set was even tighter than the first as the Knights held a 22-21 advantage following a service error. However, a hitting error ignited a four-point run by the Hawks, which led to a 2-0 lead thanks to an ace by Williams and three attacking errors by Geneseo to close out a 25-22 victory for SUNY New Paltz in the second stanza.
 
The Hawks trailed in the third set, 22-21 with the Knights scoring three straight points to extend the match. Geneseo held set point in the fourth 24-19 with a kill by Jamie Albrecht keeping the period alive. The Knights continued their comeback however, as a kill pushed the match into a fifth and final deciding set.
 
"The set I wasn't thrilled about was the third set," Giufre said. "I felt like we were up 2-0 and playing well and kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit and that came back and bite us at times last year. We had talked about that afterward. I thought we had played pretty tough in the fourth set and we started to turn it back on. Geneseo just made some better physical plays than we did, but it's those little things that we're looking to not repeat… I thought we took our foot off the gas, but fortunately kept our composure to bring it back to the fourth even though we dropped the set, and stayed strong in who we are."
 
The Knights started the fifth with three-straight points and held an 8-6 lead at the switch. The Hawks worked their way back though, as they tied the score at eight before scoring six of the next eight points to take a 12-10 advantage. Geneseo brought the game within one, but SUNY New Paltz responded with a kill by Albrecth, followed by a kill from Perez off a free ball. Fittingly, Perez helped put an end to the game as she went up for a solo block on match point to secure the win.
 
"We made a defensive plan change in the fifth set and they carried it out for everybody and those are times where if you're caught up in the emotions and the self-doubt and worried about what can happen, you can forget about that assignment and that just digs you deeper, and it didn't happen. It didn't happen last night and it didn't happen today. Today we were a lot better defensively than we were last night across the board," Giufre said. "But, two really tough teams to play against. All three of us battling for upwards of the top spots for playoffs. I think all three teams left all their sweat on our court and emptied the tank. It was really wonderful volleyball to watch. It makes it better that we won"
 
Williams led the way with a career-high 22 kills to go along with a career-high 26 digs to go along with two aces and a block. Albrecht followed with 20 kills, two blocks and 21 digs. Perez had 16 kills, two aces, an assist, four blocks and eight digs. DiGiacomo finished with a game-high 46 assists, while Podstupka finished with a game-high 27 digs with five assists and an ace.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action next weekend for another pivotal SUNYAC matchup going on the road to face Oswego Oct. 13 and Cortland the following day, Oct. 14.


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