Manhattan, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz returned from its 12 day break by going to the Big Apple for a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match in the Palladium Athletic Facility against No. 12 nationally ranked New York University. 
 
The Hawks (16-9) looked to win their third straight Wednesday night and nearly did so after forcing a fifth set after getting down 2-0 early, but a late injury to All-American opposite Pat Wing proved costly, as SUNY New Paltz came up just short, losing 21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 9-15.
 
The Hawks found themselves all tied up at nine thanks to a kill from Wing assisted by Daniel Shanley early in the first set. Trying to get out to their first lead of the night, an attack error by the Violets gave SUNY New Paltz a 10-9 lead. A service error and a kill by Christopher Larkin assisted by Shanley were the only other points that gave the Hawks a lead in the set at 11-10 and 12-11, respectively. 
 
Until NYU was up by two at 22-20, the rest of the set was a tight one, with either a tie or a Violets' one point lead. Set point was 24-21 in favor of NYU, and the next point was a kill, which put SUNY New Paltz down, 1-0.
 
The second set was not as tight as the first. Down 11-4, Wing socked a kill assisted by Matt Maruza to cut the lead to six. The Hawks struggled in the set, as they saw their largest deficit of nine points at 16-7. SUNY New Paltz had the lead just twice in the period, which came early at 2-1 and 3-2 — stemming from errors by the hosts. Set point was a seven-point lead for the Violets, and a service error led them to a 25-17 second set win and a commanding 2-0 advantage.  
SUNY New Paltz held a 1-0 lead to start the third, thanks to a service ace from Matt Kudlinksi. The score was tied just three times in the set, but after the Hawks took a 4-3 lead following an attacking error by NYU, they never looked back. 
 
Another kill by Wing assisted again by Shanley, made it a 23-20, and SUNY New Paltz was only two points away from guaranteeing a fourth set. A kill and a service ace trimmed the lead to one. Coach Radu Petrus decided to call a SUNY New Paltz timeout and right after, Wing tallied another kill assisted by Shanley to get his team to set point.. Wing made an error, and the Violets were down by only one. However, Wing redeemed himself with a set-ending kill assisted by Shanley, giving SUNY New Paltz a 25-23 third set win and getting on the board, 2-1.
 
AJ Fitzgerald notched the first point of the fourth set with a kill assisted by Shanley. Just like the second set, the Hawks led 2-1 and 3-2 to start out. They would not lead again until Larkin struck a kill assisted by Shanley, which made it 12-11. That was the turning point in the set, as SUNY Paltz led the rest of the way. 
 
The Hawks held set point at 24-21 but a kill by NYU slashed the lead to two. Petrus called a timeout to ice the Violets server, and the move paid off, as a service error granted the Hawks a 25-22 win, forcing a deciding fifth set. 
 
However, they were forced to play the last frame without leading point-getter, Wing, who suffered an apparent ankle injury late in the stanza. The loss was crucial offensively with SUNY New Paltz out its top hitter.
 
The Hawks led by one to start at 2-1 and 4-3, but struggled the rest of the way going down by as many as five on three separate occasions. Michael Speigel scratched a kill off an assist by Shanley, which cut  the lead to four at 13-9. NYU sided out and another kill sealed the deal for the Violets, as they won the fifth set 15-9.
 
Wing tallied 23 kills and two digs to lead SUNY New Paltz on the night despite not playing in the fifth. Krish Jain notched six kills, three digs and hit .750. Shanley facilitated the offense with 39 assists, while adding two kills and seven digs.
 
The Hawks resume UVC action on the road April 3 against No. 9 nationally ranked Vassar. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.


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