Boston, MA — The State University of New York at New Paltz lost both matches Saturday in the opening day of the Fenway Classic Tournament.
 
Competing on the campus of Wentworth Institute of Technology, the Hawks (1-2 overall) dropped a four-set match to the hosting Leopards (25-23, 16-25, 19-25, 22-25) after falling in straight sets to Nichols College (25-15, 25-16, 25-21).
 
SUNY New Paltz hit poorly against the Bison, totaling just 28 points on 20 kills while registering a .105 hitting percentage while Nichols in turn, hit at a .429 clip with 37 kills, 35 assists and 56 points while registering 12 aces.
 
The Hawks never led in the first set, but trailed by one after consecutive hitting errors by the Bison brought the score to 14-13. They countered though on a 9-1 run to take a hefty 23-14 lead and eventually closed out the 10-point win on back-to-back kills.
 
Once again, SUNY New Paltz never led in the second but tied the score at 10 following an ace by Adam Brawn, but Nichols answered with three straight points and a 6-0 run at 19-15 brought the period to set point with Brawn back in to serve, but this time he couldn't get the ball in play resulting in the 2-0 lead for the Bison.  
The Hawks gained some momentum in the third and scored five-straight points to take a 17-13 lead with Pat Wing serving through the stretch and registering an ace and two kills in the run. SUNY New Paltz held onto the lead until Nichols tied the score at 20 following a block, but a service error handed the Hawks a one-point advantage. However, the Bison closed out the match on five-straight points to earn the sweep.
 
Wing led SUNY New Paltz with seven kills on 18 attempts with two aces and a block. Krish Jain followed with four kills on seven attempts. Matt Marusza registered a team-high 15 assists.
 
In the final game of the afternoon, the Hawks faced No. 1 nationally ranked Wentworth and came away with the 1-0 match lead.
 
A 4-0 run pushed SUNY New Paltz ahead, 16-14 as Wing and AJ Fitzgerald tallying kills in the stretch with Christopher Larkin and Bennett Petrik registering a block to cap the run. The Leopards came back to take a 22-19 lead, but SUNY New Paltz worked to set point with Matt Marusza serving through a 5-0 run with Jain bringing the score to 24-22 off an assist from Marusza. Fitzgerald officially cliched the first set win for the Hawks on a kill from Marusza.
 
Wentworth won the second set and tied the match at 1-1 after it rolled to a 25-16 win after scoring six of the last seven points. The Leopards got up 20-14 and held on to reach set point at 24-19 after SUNY New Paltz got within four at 23-19 but a kill and an ace solidified the 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set was tight, as the Hawks held a 19-18 lead following an ace by Marusza, but Wentworth re-took the lead with a kill and an attacking error by Jain. The two teams traded points with a serving error by the Leopards knotting the score at 21-all, but three consecutive points brought the game to match point. Marusza went to Wing on the right side to cut the score to 24-22, but Wentworth closed out the win on a kill at 25-22.
 
Wing led the team with 17 kills off 36 attempts, hitting .278 on the match with two assists, two aces, two blocks and four digs. Fitzgerald followed with 14 kills on 26 attempts (.346) with an ace, a block and two digs. Marusza paced SUNY New Paltz with 36 assists, while adding a team-high 10 digs.
 
The Hawks return to action Sunday, going to Emmanuel College for day two of the Fenway Classic to face the hosting Saints and Endicott College at noon and 2 p.m., respectively.

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