Boston, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz concluded day two of the Fenway Classic on the campus of Emmanuel College, splitting the afternoon against the hosting Saints and Endicott College.
 
The Hawks (2-3 overall) dropped a four-set match to Emmanuel (24-26, 25-23, 22-25, 23-25) but ended the afternoon on a high note with a four-set win over the Gulls (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22).
 
SUNY New Paltz held the advantage in nearly every category against the Saints, including hitting percentage (.207-.194), points (63.5-57.5), kills (50-39), aces (9-5) and assists (41-36), but the hosts played better defensively, especially at the net as they registered 13 blocks and 40 digs to propel the victory.
 
The first set went into extra points after AJ Fitzgerald helped tie the score at 24-all following a kill on an assist from Patrick Soulias. Emmanuel closed out with two straight point though to take a 1-0 lead, getting a kill to earn back serve before a double block on Fitzgerald solidified the set.
 
The Hawks worked their way back in the second set, tying the stanza at 21 following back-to-back kills by Pat Wing off assists from Daniel Shanley. The two teams traded points before an attacking error gave SUNY New Paltz back serve with the score tied one last time at 23-all and the Hawks ended the set on a 3-0 run, helped out by a bad set and a kill from Mike Handell to tie the match at 1-1.  
SUNY New Paltz held a 19-17 lead in the third, but a 4-0 run pushed the Saints ahead, before an attacking error and an ace from Christopher Larkin knotted the score at 21. The two teams traded points with the set tied at 22 following a kill by Wing, but a service error helped Emmanuel close out as it got to set point with a kill and took a 2-1 match advantage with an ace from Dominic DeFarrari.
 
After the Hawks took a 17-11 lead in the fourth, Emmanuel slowly worked its way back to get within one at 22-21 following an attacking error by Fitzgerald. The senior got the point back though, swinging for a kill from the outside off an assist by Shanley, but the Saints closed out the match with four-straight points, first on a serving error then on back-to-back kills to get to match point, then finally earning the win on an attacking error to take the 3-1 win.
 
Wing was the catalyst offensively for SUNY New Paltz, finishing with 20 of the team's 50 kills while hitting .436 with two assists, an ace and two digs. Fitzgerald followed with nine kills, while adding a block and five digs. Larkin totaled a team-high 12 digs with two aces, a kill and a block. Shanley led the team with 33 assists with six kills, a game-high five aces and two digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz rebounded in its second match of the day against Endicott, winning the first set to take an early 1-0 lead before the Gulls tied the match with a four-point win in set two.
 
The Hawks rolled to a win in the third, holding a 22-14 lead following a kill by Wing. They held set point at 24-17 after a block by Geoff Ndoria and Krish Jain with Ndoria serving on the winning point, as a Gulls' hitting error gave SUNY New Paltz a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set was tightly contested with SUNY New Paltz holding a slight one-point lead at 22-21 after a kill by Endicott. A service error gave the ball back to the Hawks with Wing serving for ace to place his team at match point. Wing then secured the win for SUNY New Paltz registering another kill off an assist by Marusza.
 
Wing again propelled his team, finishing with a game-high 26 assists while hitting .489 with an assist, three aces, four blocks and a dig with a team-high 31 points. Fitzgerald and Jain each tallied seven kills with Marusza totaled a career-high 48 assists.
 
The Hawks are back in action next weekend, participating in the Kean University Tournament in Union, NJ Friday and Saturday opening up with the hosting Cougars Friday at 5 p.m.  

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