New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz won its third straight Wednesday night, claiming a three-set victory over Kean in its home opener in the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks defeated the visiting Cougars, 25-20, 29-27, 25-17 and improved their record to 3-5 overall.
 
SUNY New Paltz took a 22-20 lead in the first and upped its cushion to three with libero Luke Hofer diving to keep the point alive. Michael Spiegel capped the play, swinging for a kill on the right side. Matt Marusza aced to get the Hawks to set point before serving the winning point, forcing Kean into an attacking error on a carry to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
 
SUNY New Paltz faced a 13-9 deficit in the second leading to a timeout by Hawks coach Radu Petrus. The hosts responded out of the break, siding out on a kill by Geoff Ndoria. Matt Teplansky then served through the next four points to get his team within one, leading to a Cougars timeout.
 
The stoppage of play didn't help Kean like it did the Hawks, as the Cougars hit out on the next play to allow SUNY New Paltz to tie the score at 13-all. Daniel Shanley pushed the Hawks ahead, swinging a hard ball that ricocheted off a Cougar and into the stands for a kill. Max DeBonis continued serving through the run and helped SUNY New Paltz extend the stretch, diving across the back line to save a ball that turned into a kill by Nikko Tenedorio on a dump to get the advantage to 16-14.
 
 
Teplansky followed up with a kill off a set by Shanley before an attacking error capped the 4-0 run to put SUNY New Paltz out in front, 18-14. Kean came back to tie the set though, as miscommunication in the back row on back-to-back points allowed the Cougars to gain momentum with the Hawks watching the ball fall inside the court, leading to a timeout.  
Kean tied the game at 22-all before Ndoria allowed the hosts to side-out on a kill, but SUNY New Paltz hit out the next play to tie the set again at 23-all. Ndoria gave the Hawks set point with a kill off an assist by Marusza, but the Cougars answered with two straight points, the last on a hitting error by the hosts following a long rally. Kean returned the favor though, hitting long the next point to tie the period at 25-25. The set was tied twice more at 26, and 27-all before Krish Jain spiked a ball from the front row to push SUNY New Paltz ahead, 28-27. Tenedorio then put the exclamation point on an exciting second stanza, serving a bullet that hit off the chest of a Cougar and sailed out of play for the set-sealing ace, allowing the Hawks to take a comfortable 2-0 lead.
 
SUNY New Paltz took the momentum into the third and got out to a commanding, 21-9 lead. Kean climbed back to get within eight at 22-14 and after a serving error trimmed the difference to 23-16 but the Hawks closed out thanks to freshman Tristan Rezza. The freshman middle made an immediate impact, as he captured match point for his team with a kill, beating a double block by Kean before closing out two points later, smashing a free ball for another kill to solidify the 25-17 third set victory.
 
Teplansky and Tenedorio led SUNY New Paltz offensively with 10 kills apiece. Teplansky hit a productive .526 on 19 attempts, while adding four digs for 10 points. Tenedorio hit at a .300 clip on 20 attempts, while adding an ace, block and nine digs for a team-high 11.5 points. Ndoria followed with nine kills on 16 attempts, hitting .313 with an assist, a block and two digs. Shanley registered a team-high 29 assists with two blocks, while Jain added six kills and three blocks.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Friday, going on the road to face Rutgers-Newark, which will start a five-game road trip for the Hawks before their back home for the UVC opener against Hobart College Feb. 28.

  
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