New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz opened up SUNYAC play at home in the Hawk Center Wednesday and made quick work of visiting Oneonta, picking up a 3-0 sweep over the Red Dragons (25-14, 25-18, 25-19).
 
The Hawks jumped back to .500 with the victory, getting to 7-7 overall along with 1-0 in the conference. The team was dealing with a number of injuries over the past few weeks, but had nearly everyone healthy and in the lineup Wednesday, including freshman Maria Weigand who led the team with 12 kills and earned a career-high in the category.
 
"It feels great to be back. I honestly feel better than ever," said Weigand who found herself back in the lineup after missing three matches. "Our whole team has been playing really good throughout the season, but with more returners back and more people healthy I think everyone adds their own little piece, and we're all more cohesive now as one group."
 
Heading into the matchup, the Hawks made sure to cover ground all over the floor as the Red Dragons tipped shots over the net. They kept balls in play and finished long rallies while picking up 47 digs as a team with Oneonta totaling just 27 in the category. They also out-hit the Red Dragons, .341-.176 while totaling more points (54-31), kills (41-20), assists (40-20) and aces (13-8), but it was their serving that allowed them to jump out ahead early.
 
"We were really ready. We were on our toes and we were ready to make the forward movements and we definitely succeeded," Weigand said. 'I think we all performed really well tonight as a team. It feels really good and it's only up from here."
 
Elena Savage served through six-straight points to start the night, tallying three-straight aces in the stretch before serving into the net to allow the Red Dragons to side-out. SUNY New Paltz continued to roll, however, as Jordyn Lewis helped her team to a 12-2 lead following an ace and then a kill by Weigand off a set from Savage. Courtney Meyer aided in the Hawks' largest lead of the period, serving five-straight points with Weigand connecting on back-to-back kills off assists from Savage to fatten the cushion to 22-9. An attacking error pushed the hosts to set point at 24-14 with Jamie Albrecht officially notching a 1-0 lead for SUNY New Paltz with a kill to end the set.
 
 
Like the first, the Hawks got out to a large lead to start the second as well. Lexi Stragalas won the opening point for SUNY New Paltz with a kill as Meyer came in to serve four straight points with Weigand tallying two kills, Christine Balbona one and Meyer adding another ace to secure a 5-0 lead.  
SUNY New Paltz never trailed in the set and took its biggest advantage at 21-10 with Meyer again serving. She tallied three more aces to help build an 11-point cushion for her team with the Hawks eventually holding set point at 24-15 following a kill from Weigand. Oneonta worked back to get within four, but Letisha Perez put an end to any hopes of a comeback, adding a kill to close out the 2-0 lead.
 
The third set was tighter between the two teams, as the stanza was tied five times before SUNY New Paltz took its first lead at 14-13. Perez won back serve for her team with a kill off an assist from Savage, handing the ball to Albrecht who swung momentum back toward the Hawks. Weigand got the stretch started with a kill before Albrecht followed with two-straight aces to lift her team to a 15-13 advantage. SUNY New Paltz stayed out in front the rest of the way, as Albrecht smashed a kill off a set from Savage to create a 23-18 lead before a service error led to match point for the Hawks. Albrecht served the final point, and a setting error concluded the game and the sweep.
 
Weigand had a career- and game-high 12 kills on 22 attempts, hitting a career-high .409 in the match, while adding three digs. Albrecht followed with 11 kills on 20 attempts, hitting .400 with three aces and 10 digs. Perez and Balbona each had seven kills, while Meyer led the team defensively with a career- and game-high 13 digs to go along with five aces. Savage facilitated the offense, finishing with 38 assists and four aces with five digs.
 
"I feel like we've improved a lot as a whole since the beginning of the season, definitely since the first few games," Weigand said. "We're going to hit our peak in mid-November right by SUNYAC's and we're definitely on the way to that right now."
 
SUNY New Paltz returns to the Hawk Center Saturday, hosting a tri-match against Clarkson University and Baruch College.

Post-Game Featuring Maria Weigand

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