Atherton, CA — The State University of New York New Paltz opened up its 2025 campaign Wednesday on the west coast, taking on Menlo College.
 
The Hawks suffered a 3-0 loss (25-20, 25-13, 25-15) against the Oaks who held the advantage in points (44-32), kills (34-28), aces (5-1), blocks (5-3), assists (33-27), digs (22-16) and hitting percentage (.431-.270).
 
Michael Spiegel led SUNY New Paltz offensively with nine kills, an ace, a block and four digs for 10.5 points while hitting a .353 on the night. Mike Handell and Krish Jain followed with five kills apiece with Jain adding two blocks. Matt Marusza and Daniel Shanley facilitated the offense, recording 13 and 11 assists, respectively. Luke Hofer finished with a team-high six digs and added two assists.
 
A 6-0 run to start the first set allowed Menlo to get in front, 9-3 and it never trailed in the set from that point forward. Spiegel registered a kill assisted by Marusza to cut the score, 23-18 before recording an ace three points later to get the Hawks within four after the Oaks earned set point. But, a serving error on the next play solidified the 25-20 set one loss.
 
The Oaks got up big in the second, taking a 17-6 lead before going up by 12 at 21-9. A serving error allowed SUNY New Paltz to side-out and revive some life, using a 3-0 run to break into the large lead on back-to-back kills by Spiegel and Peter Brutschin. The two teams traded points before Menlo ended the set with three straight points, 25-13.
 
Mike Handell tied the third at seven-all following a kill off an assist from Shanley, but the Oaks countered scoring three unanswered before another 4-0 run gave them some cushion at 14-9. A serving error and a kill by Nikko Tenedorio cut the score to 14-10 for the Hawks, but Menlo answered with five straight points to take a comfortable, 19-11 advantage. The hosts eventually earned match point on a serving error at 24-14 and closed out two points later on a kill to end the set, 25-15.
 
SUNY New Paltz will look to bounce back Friday, taking on Carthage College at 6 p.m. EST in Santa Cruz, California.

  
******************
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.