Cortland, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz suffered its second conference loss of the season Friday night, falling in three sets to the reigning SUNYAC Champions SUNY Cortland, 25-12, 25-10, 25-18.
 
In a re-match of last year's SUNYAC Championship final, the offense struggled throughout for the Hawks, hitting .045 in the game with 24 kills with the Red Dragons hitting .391 with 44 kills and 40 assists. The hosts also held the advantage at the net with six blocks and six aces, while SUNY New Paltz had just two blocks and no aces in the match.

The Hawks struggle at the start, staring at a 10-0 hole against a powerful Cortland offense. They finally broke through the double-digit deficit to get within nine following a kill from Mirella Valluzzi at 19-10 but couldn't build off the momentum to chip away further and fell, 25-12 with the Red Dragons earning set point at 24-12.
 
Cortland hit .321 in the set, versus .032 for SUNY New Paltz with 13 kills and four aces, along with three blocks for the hosts in a dominant first set.
 
The Red Dragons owned the second, holding set point at 24-9. They hit a productive .560 and was dominant at the net with two more blocks. The Hawks, meanwhile, totaled just eight kills on 28 attempts in the 25-10, set two loss.
 
SUNY New Paltz showed fight in the third, tying the third early 6-6. Maria Weigand served a good ball in on the ensuing point and the Hawks stayed strong at the net with back-to-back blocks, but the Red Dragons kept the ball alive and eventually Kyrah Wilbur found a naked spot on the court, tipping the ball over for a kill to re-gain the lead. Cortland gave the point right back though, serving out on the next play but went on a 4-0 run to gain an 11-7 lead.
 
Letisha Perez helped to get SUNY New Paltz within four following a monster swing, which the Red Dragons had trouble digging to cut the score to 15-11. Cortland sided out quickly, however, working the outside for another kill and then rattled off three more points to get out in front, 18-11 before the Hawks took a timeout.
 
SUNY New Paltz won a point back, but it wasn't enough to create enough of a rally to get back into the set as the Red Dragons went to grab match point at 24-18. Jamie Albrecht smashed a kill in the middle of the court to side-out for the Hawks with Elena Savage serving the ensuing point. Savage served well forcing a free ball on the reception, but SUNY New Paltz couldn't touch the ball at the net inside the line and forced the game to end at 25-18.
 
Albrecht and Valuzzi each had six kills to lead the team offensively with Albrecht adding six digs and a half a block. Perez followed with five kills, while Weigand added four kills and five digs. Savage facilitated the offense and finished with a team-high 20 assists, along with a team leading nine digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz returns to the floor Saturday, facing SUNYAC newcomer SUNY Morrisville on the Mustangs home court for a 4:30 p.m. match.

 
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