New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz fell to visiting SUNY Cortland Saturday in the Hawk Center, 3-0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-15).
 
The Hawks dropped to 10-9 overall and 2-2 in the SUNYAC, while the Red Dragons improved to 15-4 and 4-0, respectively.
 
SUNY New Paltz struggled in serve receive with Cortland garnering 13 aces in the match, which also affected the Hawks offensively who finished hitting in the negative at -.107 as a team. The Hawks totaled 19 points on 17 kills with 14 assists and 30 digs.
 
The first set started tight early as Maria Weigand tied the score at 7-7 following a kill on an assist from Courtney Meyer, but the Red Dragons countered with six-straight points. They rolled from there, holding set point at 24-14 and eventually finishing the win on a hitting error by the Hawks.  
A block by Chloe Choi and Lola Konopa trimmed the second set score to 8-6, but Cortland countered with a 16-1 run that made quick work of the period. The third set went similarly, as a kill off a free ball by Maddy Casto pushed SUNY New Paltz ahead early at 11-8, but the Red Dragons began to lock in and scored the next seven points and never relinquished the lead from there. Choi kept the score close following a big swing off a set from Braun to cut the difference to 18-15, but Cortland ended the match on another 7-0 run to claim the 3-0 victory.
 
Weigand led the team offensively with eight kills, while adding two digs. Braun finished with 10 assists, while Meyer paced the Hawks defensively with a team-leading 12 digs to go along with an assist.
 
SUNY New Paltz resumes SUNYAC action next weekend when it hosts Potsdam and Plattsburgh Oct. 17-18 in the Hawk Center at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.  


**********************
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.