New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz hosted Elms College and Arcadia University in a tri-match Saturday in the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks (11-5 overall) handily took a three-set sweep of the Blazers to open up the day but fell in five to the Knights to conclude the afternoon.
 
SUNY New Paltz made quick work of Elms, winning 25-18, 25-16, 25-11. It held the advantage in every statistical category in a dominant win including: points (54-17), kills (44-10), aces (6-5), blocks (4-2), assists (40-10) and digs (40-18), while hitting at a .337 clip compared to -.042 for the Blazers.
 
Dan LaRosa totaled 34 assists in the win with three kills, an ace, a block and nine digs. Evan Kane was tops for the Hawks in kills with 10 on 17 attempts to hit .529, while adding two blocks and a pair of digs. Bennett Petrik followed with eight kills on 15 attempts with an ace and seven digs.
 
Elms got the first set close, trimming SUNY New Paltz's lead to 15-14 following a 3-0 run, but a kill by Kane ignited an 8-1 run with Mike Kilinski serving through a 6-0 stretch before Kane and Mike Handell brought the score to 23-15 with a pair of kills. Teddy Teraskiewicz gave the Hawks set point with a kill and the Blazers hit the net on the following serve to establish the Hawks with a 1-0 lead.
 
The second was tied at three before SUNY New Paltz scored five of the next six points to create a cushion, thanks to a kill by Kane and an ace from Killinski with Handell and Kane teaming up for a double block to build an early 8-4 lead. The Hawks led the rest of the way and held an advantage as much as 11 following a block by Carter Lotz and Handell. Elms countered with four-straight points, but Lotz ended the run with a kill and the Blazers ended the set on a hitting error to push SUNY New Paltz's lead to 2-0.
 
 
A 5-0 run to begin the third swung momentum toward the Hawks in the final set, as they held match point at 24-11 following a kill by Petrik. The Blazers won serve back following a hitting error, but they served into the net on the final point to finalize the 3-0 outcome.
 
SUNY New Paltz picked up where it left off in game two, winning the first set against the Knights easily, 25-10. The Hawks hit .583 in the first with 17 kills and three aces as they scored the last nine points to take a 1-0 lead.

After Arcadia tied the match at a set apiece, SUNY New Paltz again rolled to a 25-13 victory in the third after opening up the set on a 7-0 run with Kyle Shaffer serving through. Another 7-0 run later in the period got the Hawks to set point following a pair of aces by Brendan Spulnick, a block by John Ronan and Pat Wing and a kill by Ronan to create a 24-12 score line. Following a serving error, AJ Fitzgerald gave SUNY New Paltz a 2-1 advantage smashing a kill to close out the 25-13 third set victory.
 
The fourth set became instrumental in the win for Arcadia. The two teams went back and forth in the stanza, as the Knights took a three-point lead at 16-13 before they continued exchanging serves until the Hawks got within one at 22-23. Shaffer served a nice ball that just grazed over the net with reception coming back over immediately and Spulnick was there to put down the kill. Arcadia answered though with a kill of their own to create set point and then earned the fourth set victory getting up for a block on Spulnick.
 
 
SUNY New Paltz fought back after getting down 8-2 at the switch in the fifth. A hard swing by Spulnick from the back row created a three-point difference with the Hawks trailing 13-10. However, the Knights immediately answered with a quick set and spike off the serve receive to get to match point. Spulnick's swing found the inside of the back line on the following point to extend the match, but Arcadia closed out with another set and kill off the serve receive to claim the upset.
 
Shaffer totaled 48 assists with one ace, a block and four digs with two kills. Wing had a team-high 22 kills off 49 attempts with an ace, two blocks and 13 digs. Spulnick followed with 16 kills, to go along with a game-high six aces, two assists and three digs. LaRosa finished with a career-high 17 digs and added three assists.
 
The Hawks resume play on the road at Bard Wednesday before playing their first UVC match of the year Sunday at home in the Hawk Center against Nazareth College.  

Arcadia Post-Game Highlights


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