New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team concluded its 2024 campaign Saturday in the Hawk Center against St. John Fisher College and Russell Sage College.
 
The Hawks end the year at 17-3 overall and 1-6 in the UVC after falling in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) to the visiting Cardinals to open up the afternoon before sweeping the Gators (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) in the night cap.
 
SUNY New Paltz honored its two graduating members to start the afternoon in Pat Wing and Adam Brawn. Wing suffered a season ending injury against Vassar three days prior and was missed in the lineup, but freshman Michael Speigel came in to contribute a team-leading nine kills on 14 attempts on the right side, while Brawn added five kills on 10 attempts, hitting .300 while adding an ace and two digs against the Cardinals.
 
The Hawks lead 18-16 in set one, but four-straight points turned the stanza with SUNY New Paltz unable to re-gain the lead. The hosts cut the deficit to one at 23-22 following a kill by Speigel, but a service error allowed St. John Fisher to side out and earn set point and an ace on the next point officially clinched the 1-0 lead for the visitors.
 
The next two sets were all Cardinals, as they held set point at 24-20 in set two and at 20-18 in set three, scored five straight including two aces to end the match.
 
 
Matt Marusza led the Hawks with 19 assists, while adding an ace, two digs and half a block, while Daniel Shanley followed with 11 assists and two digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz had a dominant effort against Sage later in the night. It led in nearly all statistical categories, out-hitting the Gators, .397-.360, while totaling more points (52-33), kills (34-24), aces (15-7), blocks (3-2), assists (25-20) and digs (17-9).
 
Brawn was the catalyst offensively, as he ended with a career- and game-high 11 kills, while hitting .467 on 15 attempts. He finished his last game as a Hawk by tallying a career-high five aces while adding half a block to propel his team to the win.
 
Geoff Ndoria followed offensively for SUNY New Paltz, recording seven kills with three digs and half a block. Patrick Soulias facilitated the offense, as he finished with a game-high 23 assists, while adding a career-high four aces.
 

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