The State University of New York at New Paltz released its 2023 women's volleyball schedule Thursday.
 
Fresh off their 15th 20-plus win season, 17th consecutive trip to the SUNYAC playoffs and a No. 5 ranking in the NCAA DIII Region III final poll, the 2023 edition of Hawks women's volleyball will face one of the most challenging schedules in program history.
 
Twenty-one-year tenured coach Matt Giufre has never been afraid to pack his team's early season non-conference schedule with the best DIII competition around, all with the purpose of preparing the Hawks for their charge to the SUNYAC championship and the all-important automatic NCAA DIII tournament bid.  
SUNY New Paltz will face a demanding 27 match schedule, pitting them against 20 teams who saw postseason tournament play in 2022; six that were NCAA III tournament entries; eight teams which were regionally ranked and three teams that were ranked nationally in the AVCA final poll for 2022.
 
The Hawks open the 2023 campaign on the road, first at the Scranton University Invitational on Sept. 1-2. They will face three regionally ranked teams in Smith College in its opener Sept. 1 and Swarthmore College and Scranton University, respectively the following day. SUNY New Paltz closes out its season-opening road trip with a match against a formidable Western Connecticut State University team Sept. 6.
 
The Hawks begin their home account with the annual Hawks Invitational Sept. 8-9, held in the Hawk Center. The defending tournament champions will face the Sage Colleges Sept. 8, with matches against Union College and Mt. St. Mary College Sept. 9. SUNY New Paltz concludes its home stand with a Sept. 13 match against cross river rival Vassar College.
 
The Hawks next venture to Dallas, PA to participate in the Misericordia University Tournament on Sept. 15-16. The Hawks will match up with Montclair University to open up the tournament Sept. 15 before facing host Misericordia to conclude the night. The following afternoon will see them play Elmira College and Wentworth Institute of Technology, respectively.
 
The Hawks Challenge Tournament is next up for SUNY New Paltz, taking place in the Hawk Center, a tournament they also won last season. The Sept. 22-23 tournament will see the hosting Hawks face the top ranked squad in Region III, the Bombers of Ithaca College. The next day, SUNY New Paltz play two more regionally ranked teams, first Manhattanville College, then Williams College to close out its home tournament.
 
The Hawks start their SUNYAC regular season on the road in Western New York, facing SUNY Fredonia Sept. 29 and Buffalo State Sept. 30. The following weekend they return to the Hawk Center and host SUNYAC finalist and regionally ranked SUNY Brockport Oct. 6, before taking on SUNY Geneseo in the Hawk Center the following afternoon.  
The weekend of October 13-14 sees the Hawks away in central New York, first at defending SUNYAC champions and nationally ranked Cortland, followed by a match at SUNY Oswego.
 
Home again for another SUNYAC weekend on October 20-21, the Hawks host North Country rivals SUNY Potsdam on Friday and SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday to close out their home season before finishing up regular season conference play on the road at SUNY Oneonta Oct. 25.
 
SUNY New Paltz will then prep for the SUNYAC tournament by travelling to Montclair State University for a tri-match Nov. 4, first against host Montclair, and finishing the regular season schedule against regionally ranked DeSales University.
 
First round SUNYAC Tournament matches will be held Nov. 7, while the semifinal matches and championship match will be held Nov. 10-11 on the court of the highest seed.
 
The selection for NCAA DIII tournament participants will be Monday, November 13. Regional matches will be held November 16-18, with the finals on November 29-December 2 in Claremont, CA.

To view the full Hawks women's volleyball 2023 schedule, click here.

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