New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz fell in five sets against visiting No. 5 Springfield Wednesday in the Hawk Center, 25-18, 18-25, 26-28, 25-16, 12-15.
 
SUNY New Paltz got out to a win in the first with Pat Wing, who finished with a career-tying 22 kills on the night, pushed his team ahead, beating the double block on the right side to side out for the Hawks. John Ronan swung for a monster kill in the middle to re-gain the lead at 10-9 before Dan LaRosa added on with an ace forcing Springfield into the timeout.
 
The hosts held onto the advantage for the remainder of the period, going up big at 22-16 following a good serve in by Evan Kane and solid defense to keep the point alive, which led to a an attacking error by the Pride who hit wide to create a six-point difference. Kyle Shaffer went to freshman middle Krish Jain a point later with a service error bringing SUNY New Paltz to set point at 24-18. AJ Fitzgerald then sealed the 1-0 lead, serving for ace on the last point.
 
After Springfield tied the match at a set apiece with a 25-18 win the second, the third went extra after Wing tied the score at 24 with a kill. Brendan Spulnick, who entered the match in the third, his first action since suffering an ankle injury two weeks prior, stepped in to serve and pushed his team to set point. Shaffer was called on a double to re-knot the score with Springfield giving a point right back after serving into the net. However, the Hawks also served long, which tied the score at 26 before the Pride ended the set on two-straight kills, the last on a free ball over, that solidified the 28-26 score.
 
 
After losing a tight third set, the Hawks stormed out to take the fourth and force a deciding fifth set. Ronan produced SUNY New Paltz's first point of the final stanza, slamming down a kill that ignited the home bench and crowd. Spulnick then gave his team their first lead of the period, serving another hard ball for an ace. The two teams traded points until 5-0 gave the Pride a 7-3 advantage. Springfield ended the stretch after serving into the net with Shaffer cutting the score to 7-5 after a big solo block on the outside. Shaffer then went to Wing on the next point with the senior tallying another kill to get his team within one, but the run stalled there as Wing served into the net to give the Pride an 8-6 lead at the switch.
 
The fifth was tied twice more at 9- and 10-all before SUNY New Paltz took its last lead of the game at 12-11 following an ace by Shaffer forcing Springfield into a timeout. The Pride regrouped and found Chris Rouleau for a kill that sparked a 4-0 run to end the match. A service ace brought the score to 13-12 and back-to-back hitting errors, the first on a tough non touch call on Spulnick, led to the 15-12 win for Springfield.
 
Wing led the team offensively with 24.5 points, hitting .306 on 49 attempts in the match, while adding an ace, three blocks and eight digs. Ronan and Jain followed with seven kills apiece, combining for eight blocks. Despite playing just three sets, Spulnick registered five kills, five digs and a team-leading three aces. Shaffer facilitated the offense and ended with 39 assists, while adding four kills, two aces, two blocks and seven digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz get back into the gym Saturday, hosting Kean University and UVC foe Elmira College in the Hawk Center at 5 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

Game Highlights


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