Poughkeepsie, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz lost Wednesday on the road to the Vassar Brewers in a four-set match, 25-23, 20-25, 21-25, 20-25. 

"This was one of those nights we couldn't get in a good rhythm and credit to Vassar for keeping us off balance from start to finish," said Hawks coach Matt Giufre. "We have to find a way to limit the run an opponent goes on before it snowballs on us, and we didn't do that tonight." 

The Hawks took the first after going back and forth with the Brewers, the lead exchanging almost every point until SUNY New Paltz pulled away late in the set, and Jamie Albrecht scored the final point off a kill to solidify the first set win.

The second was played in a similar fashion. Both teams were attacking the net, but the Brewers were able to capitalize off the mistakes of the Hawks and had a .400 hitting percentage, in comparison to SUNY New Paltz's .143 hitting percentage. Vassar was similarly able to pull away and take the set by a five-point margin. The Brewers were victorious in the third as well and rode that momentum into the forced fourth set. The Hawks brought back an intensity on the court, but Vassar went on a 10-point run midway through the set, and SUNY New Paltz was unable to bounce back. Vassar would take the fourth set and take the match.

Mackenzie Williams led the Hawks in kills with 14, followed closely by Jamie Albrecht and Letisha Perez, both with 10. Melanie Podstupka added nine digs to her recently attained 500 dig milestone. Cate DiGiacomo tallied 38 assists and both she and Emma Mahoney had three service aces.

Despite the loss today, the Hawks look ahead to their future competition. "Our team is really talented and I have no doubt we'll bounce back with a good practice tomorrow and be ready to compete this weekend," commented Giufre. "It's a long season and experiencing a match where the other team is really on and we struggled will only help us as we continue to play tough teams.

SUNY New Paltz returns to play in the Misericordia Tournament on Friday evening, facing the Montclair State Red Hawks at 6 p.m. and the Misericordia Cougars at 8 p.m.

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