Cortland, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz fell to the Cortland Red Dragons Friday, as the Red Dragons defeated the Hawks in straight sets (25-13, 25-14, 25-8) to move on to the SUNYAC finals. 

After defeating Oswego in the quarterfinal round, the No. 4 seeded Hawks were set to face No. 1 seeded Cortland (24-5, 9-0) in the semifinal round. The Red Dragons have not dropped a set in conference all season, and continue their streak heading into the finals. 

Cortland came out with five straight points in the first set, and the early run forced a time-out from SUNY New Paltz, but the Red Dragons did not slow down after the pause and responded with two more points. Jamie Albrecht ended the streak with a kill of her own for the Hawks' first point of the match. 

Soon after, an attack error from Cortland gave SUNY New Paltz the window it needed to chip away at the Red Dragons' lead, and Albrecht secured two straight service aces to lower the margin to only five points. 

The ensuing points were back and forth between the competitors, but Cortland pulled away with a four-point run to elevate its lead to 20-10. Despite the Hawks' attempt to respond, the Red Dragons secured the set with a final kill and took the first 25-13. 

Taking advantage of Cortland's two consecutive errors to begin the first, SUNY New Paltz took the early 2-0 lead. However, the Red Dragons did not let the Hawks make a run, and came back with three straight points. The advantage flipped between the teams until a kill by Albrecht sent her team on a four-point run, punctuated with a block by Letisha Perez which put SUNY New Paltz up 9-6.

SUNY New Paltz did not hold on to the lead for long, as Cortland rallied for six straight points, which was paused by a Hawks timeout with the Red Dragons ahead 13-10. However, the break did not stop Cortland, as they tacked on two more points which elevated their lead to 15-10. Consecutive kills from Lexi Stragalas and Kailey Jankowski attempted to rally SUNY New Paltz, but the hosts continued to score and forced another timeout following a three-point stretch, the score then reading 20-13.

Unfortunately, the Hawks could not come back from the deficit, and the Red Dragons concluded the set on a five-point run, taking set two 25-14. 
 

Forced to win the third to stay in the game, SUNY New Paltz was under pressure to score and put up two quick kills from Albrecht and Perez to start the set. However, four attack errors by the Hawks gave up the lead, which the Red Dragons added to with three more unanswered points before SUNY New Paltz took a timeout, Cortland up 7-2. 

Back on the court, the Red Dragons stood strong and limited the Hawks' scoring to two points or less at a time, preventing SUNY New Paltz from taking the lead. Up 17-8, Cortland left no room for a comeback and ended the third with an eight-point run, won the set 25-8, and took the match. 

Albrecht led the Hawks with eight kills and seven digs, followed by Perez with four kills and two total blocks. Stragalas and Jankowski added three kills each, and Kim Braun tallied eight assists and seven digs. 

The Hawks finish their 2024 campaign fourth in the conference with a winning 16-13 overall record, while going 6-3 against SUNYAC competition. SUNY New Paltz graduates two seniors, Albrecht and Perez, both essential players for the Hawks' lineup. Albrecht led the Hawks in kills this season with 300, followed by Perez with 250, who also led in total blocks with 55 total. Both have played the most sets this season as well, with 103 and 102, respectively. 


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