New Paltz NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz returned home Friday looking to remain undefeated in seven matchups against St. Joseph's Long Island. The Hawks did just that and continued their winning streak against the Golden Eagles in three sets (25-21. 25-18, 27-25).
 
SUNY New Paltz found itself out in front when an attack error by St. Joseph's gave them a 3-1 lead. The Hawks tallied two straight kills from Daniel Shanley, assisted by Luke Hofer, and AJ Fitzgerald assisted by Shanley to make it a 7-5 game. An attack error by the Golden Eagles put SUNY New Paltz up by five. St Joseph's called a timeout and proceeded on a 7-3 run.  However, the stretch did not deter SUNY New Paltz as it limited the Golden Eagles to just eight more points in the close set. At set point a kill from Pat Wing assisted by Krish Jain gave the Hawks a 25-21 win.
 
The second set started like the first when a kill by Wing assisted by Shanley gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead. Another kill from Wing assisted by Mike Handell put them up 11-8, and from then on SUNY New Paltz maintained a constant lead of 3-6 points. A kill from Christopher Larkin assisted by Shanley put the Hawks up 18-12 as the Golden Eagles called a timeout. Up 21-18, SUNY New Paltz would score five straight points, with the set clinching point coming from Geoff Ndoria off the bench. Shanley got the assist to give the Hawks a 25-18 win and go up 2-0.
 
 
No team in the third set had an advantage of more than three, and SUNY New Paltz had a big gap where it did not lead. Another kill from Wing pushed the Hawks up 6-5 early in the set but St. Joseph's countered with two straight points. The Golden Eagles never trailed with SUNY New Paltz tying the score five times before St. Joseph's reached set point at 24-22.   
Two errors from the Golden Eagles allowed the Hawks to hang in and extend set point three times. A big block by Shanley and Jain swung momentum after knotting the score once again at 24-all. After St. Joseph's sided-out with a kill, SUNY New Paltz anchored down to score three-straight for the game. Wing continued his dominance and tied the set at 25. A service ace and an attack error sealed the win for the Hawks as they swept the match 3-0 and won 27-25.
 
"That was big for us because all season we usually get to a point like that where we're down game point and we just kind of fold over. But we didn't do it," said Wing.
 
"A lot of kids on our team are Long Island guys… so it's fun to play with them. It's always competitive. They're a good team. They know how to play," Wing added. "It all finally started to come together."
 
Wing had another career game with 24 kills and 13 digs. Fitzgerald tallied 10 kills and four digs. Jain and Larkin each recorded six kills and seven digs each with Shanley facilitating the offense totaling a career- and game-high 43 assists, which sits tied 11th most in program history in a three-set match. 
 
SUNY New Paltz is headed south to Manhattan after a 10-day break, taking on UVC rival and No. 14 nationally ranked New York University Saturday, March 27 at 7 p.m.

Game Highlights


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