Union, NJ — The State University of New York New Paltz was back in action for Day Two of the Kean Tournament as it faced off against the Kean University Cougars and Centenary University Cyclones Satuday.

The Hawks dropped the first game against Kean in four sets (18-25, 25-23, 17-25, 16-25), but secured the victory over the Cyclones in the latter matchup (25-19, 25-10, 21-25, 25-16). 

Kean showed a prevalent offensive presence and totaled 42 kills compared to the Hawks' 34 throughout the first match. The Cougars were also more accurate in their attacks, as they put up a .156 hitting percentage compared to SUNY New Paltz's .021.

In the starting set, Kean would not let the Hawks go on any runs, as SUNY New Paltz could not score more than two points in a row. The Hawks never took the lead in the first, and a silencing five-point run late in the set secured Kean the 25-18 win. 
 
SUNY New Paltz bounced back in the second set, which started with a dominant kill by Lexi Stragalas, followed by four consecutive errors by Kean to put the Hawks in front 5-0. SUNY New Paltz continued to lead in the first half of the set, as they went on a crucial four-point run to extend their cushion to 12 points with the series capped off by a service ace from Letisha Perez to push the score to 16-4. 

The Cougars tried to chip away at the deficit with multiple unanswered runs in the latter part of the set and only trailed the Hawks by one for the last point of the match, but the set went to SUNY New Paltz when Perez smashed the 25th point for the Hawks to take the second, 25-23. However, despite the second set performance, SUNY New Paltz could not replicate its performance for the third and fourth sets. 
Kean came out to an early four-point lead in the third, and did not relinquish the entire set, which ended 25-17 in the Cougars' favor. The fourth went down in a similar fashion and with a lengthy eight-point run at the end of the set, Kean took the fourth, 25-16, as well as the match victory.  

Perez led the team with nine kills, closely followed by Jamie Albrecht with eight, and Regan Moeykens who had six. Albrecht and Jordyn Lewis held down defensively, with 14 and 17 digs, respectively 

The Hawks turned the day around, as they dominated Centenary in their fourth and last match of the tournament, and played with an underclassmen-heavy lineup.

Moeykens and Albrecht got the first two points of the first set, which was quickly responded to by the Cyclones. Centenary kept the lead until the Hawks broke through with a four-point run, which included two kills from freshman Chloe Choi, to take the 9-8 lead. The Cyclones retaliated and took back the advantage, but Albrecht responded with two straight kills and benefited from an attack error by Centenary to secure a 13-11 advantage. 

The Cyclones took over the lead multiple times in the set, but a stellar seven-point run by the Hawks denied any chance Centenary had. Christine Balbona was crucial in the last few points, as the sophomore aced four serves in the run to close out the first, 25-19.

Building off a solid first-set victory, the second was an even more dominant showing from SUNY New Paltz. The Hawks had 10 kills, compared to the Cyclones two, and SUNY New Paltz only errored twice throughout the set. But the two set win streak ended after Centenary came back to lock down the third. 

Junior Mirella Valluzzi secured the first kill of the set to set the tone, but the Cyclones were able to score three consecutive points. The Hawks, however, silenced the chance with an unanswered 10-point run. 

Despite the legendary series, Centenary clawed its way back and eventually took over the lead, 16-15, before it extended to 18-15. But the Hawks were quick to respond. Choi stopped the run with a kill, assisted by fellow freshman Mia Colombo. Kailey Jankowski shortly followed with two straight kills, and Balbona came through once again to cap off the run with a kill to tie the Cyclones at 19.

Unfortunately, SUNY New Paltz's efforts were not enough, and Centenary took the third set 25-21 after six crucial points were scored to close in the Cyclones favor. But the Hawks were determined to not have the match extend into five sets, and showed their efforts in the fourth set. 

Centenary came out to an early lead, at one point in front of SUNY New Paltz 6-1. However, the Hawks answered with another long run, scoring seven points to take the lead — which SUNY New Paltz would not relinquish the remainder of the match. The Hawks sported multiple unanswered runs, including a final three consecutive points to secure the win, 25-15. With the fourth and final set in their favor, SUNY New Paltz took the match and closed out the Kean Tournament with a victory. 

Choi led the charge with 12 kills, followed by Jankowski with 10 and Balbona with eight — and the trio also secured season highs in every statistical category against the Cyclones. Lewis also secured a career high seven aces in the match, and showed up defensively as well with 10 digs, followed by Courtney Meyer and Colombo who had eight and seven, respectively. Colombo also registered 27 assists, a career high for the freshman. 

SUNY New Paltz returns to the Hawk Center for its first SUNYAC contest against the Oneonta Red Dragons. The match begins at 5 p.m. 


******************

To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.