Oneonta, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz fell 3-1 on the road to Oneonta Wednesday night.
 
The Hawks had won two-straight and four of five entering the matchup, but struggled offensively against the Red Dragons, totaling just 37 kills with a hitting percentage of zero in the match.
 
Oneonta took the first set, 25-20, but the Hawks bounced back in set two to tie the game at 1-1. SUNY New Paltz regained the lead early in the second stanza following a 5-0 run, served through by Maria Weigand. Reagan Dyba capped the stretch to push her team up 13-11 and the Hawks never trailed the rest of the set. They took their largest lead at 22-5 following a kill by Nora Keating on an assist from Kim Braun. Weigand eventually got SUNY New Paltz to set point on a big swing from the outside, set by Braun. An attacking error two points later sealed the final, 25-21.
 
The third set was tied nine times including at 23-all with the Hawks fighting to keep within striking distance. A service error allowed SUNY New Paltz to side-out with Dyba handed the ball, as she served through three consecutive points resulting in a block by Keating and Christine Balbona in the middle and back-to-back kills by Keating to knot the score at 23-all. The Red Dragons won a point back, hammering down a free ball and took the 2-1 lead after a block ended the set at 25-23 in favor of the hosts.  
After SUNY New Paltz tied the fourth at eight, Oneonta scored five straight points and never relinquished the lead the rest of the stanza. It took a commanding 21-13 advantage over the Hawks and eventually moved to set point at 24-17 following a kill and ended the match with another kill on the following serve to win the fourth, 25-17 and the match, 3-1.
 
Weigand led SUNY New Paltz offensively with 11 points on nine kills, two aces and 14 digs. Dyba followed with 10.5 points on a team-high 10 kills, adding an assist, a block and eight digs. Braun facilitated the offense with 31 assists, while chipping in with two aces, a block and 13 digs. Jordyn Lewis finished with a team-high 23 digs.
 
Offensively, the Hawks didn't have a hitter hit at least .100 with Dyba hitting the most efficient at .088 on 34 attempts.
 
The loss dropped SUNY New Paltz to fifth in the conference standings behind Cortland (5-0 SUNYAC), Oswego (5-1), Fredonia (3-2) and Oneonta (4-3), respectively, with only the Blue Devils and Buffalo State left on the regular season SUNYAC schedule.
 
The Hawks return home Saturday, hosting Montclair State and Clark University in a non-conference tri-match in Elting Gym starting at 11 a.m.


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