Poughkeepsie, NY — A shorthanded Hawks fell in three sets on the road to Vassar Wednesday night.
 
The State University of New York New Paltz was without captain and starting setter Kim Braun, along with starting libero Jordyn Lewis with the Hawks struggling offensively to keep up with a good Brewers team to suffer its 12th loss of the year and end a three-game winning streak.
 
Coming off a huge road weekend, which produced two wins over SUNYAC foes Fredonia and Buffalo State that guaranteed SUNY New Paltz a 21st straight postseason appearance, the team entered the week with two final tune-up matches starting with Vassar Wednesday night.
 
The Brewers got out in front early in the first with a 6-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. They took a 20-11 lead down the stretch and although the Hawks fought back to get within six, the hosts got to set point at 24-16 following a block on a swing from Reagan Dyba and eventually won, 25-17 on a kill by Maura McAusland.
 
The second was closer to start on both sides, as Lexi Stragalas put down a kill of an assist from Elena Savage. McAusland tied the score at 12-all for the Brewers with a kill before SUNY New Paltz taking its last lead at 13-12 following a hitting error. Vassar then sided out on a Hawks hitting error and gained momentum, scoring 10 of the next 12 points, which included a 5-0 run that pushed the Brewers ahead, 22-15. They scored the final two points of the set off a kill by Holland Kaplan and a block to secure the second, 25-18.
 
The final set was tied at 8-8 after a kill by Mirella Valuzzi with middle Lola Konopa picking up an assist on the play, but once again Vassar answered with an unanswered stretch as it scored the next nine points and 15 of 16 to go up comfortably, 23-9. It earned match point at 24-10 on a kill by McAusland and aced on the next point to secure the sweep.
 
The offense couldn't get a rhythm going for the Hawks, as they hit in the negatives (-.040) with just 23 kills in the match. Stragalas was efficient in her 16 attempts, totaling six kills with three blocks to lead the team with eight points. Konopa followed with five kills, while Nora Keating added four kills, two blocks and two digs. Savage totaled a team-high 14 assists with an ace, while Meyer had a team-high 11 digs to go along with an assist and an ace.
 
SUNY New Paltz concludes its 2025 regular season Friday on the road against Stevens at 7 p.m.


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