Dallas, PA — The State University of New York New Paltz lost in five sets on the road to Misericordia Tuesday night, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 12-15.
 
The Hawks fell to 5-7 overall while the Cougars improved to 12-7.
 
SUNY New Paltz held the advantage in nearly every statistical category, out-hitting Misericordia, .225-/214, while scoring more points (74-68) and tallying more kills (56-53), aces (8-5) and digs (45-35) with both teams totaling 10 blocks and 50 assists.
 
The Hawks were down three early in set one, but a 6-0 run turned the period, as Mike Handell served through after tallying an ace and forcing four-straight hitting errors to help his team to a 12-9 lead. SUNY New Paltz never trailed the rest of the way. A block by Nikko Tenedorio and Krish Jain, followed by an ace from Daniel Shanley pushed the Hawks to a 23-18 lead with Jain slamming a kill to get his team to set point three plays later. An attacking error sealed set one after the Cougars sided out on the next point, closing out the first, 25-21 in favor of the Hawks.
 
SUNY New Paltz got within two twice late in the second, first at 18-20 and then again at 19-21, but the Hawks couldn't pull ahead as Misericordia earned set point at 24-20. It closed out the set a point later on a kill to tie the match, 1-1.
 
They looked at a one-point deficit midway through the third, but SUNY New Paltz took control of the stanza with five-straight points. Geoff Ndoria served through the run and capped the stretch on a kill off a set by Matt Marusza. The Hawks rolled from there scoring four of the last five points with Marusza helping his team to a 2-1 lead after serving for ace on the final point.
 
The fourth was tied at 22-all before a kill by the Cougars allowed the hosts to side out and then added on with an ace to get to set point. Michael Spiegel swung for a kill off an assist by Marusza to get SUNY New Paltz within one, but the Cougars answered on the next point, forcing a fifth set following a kill.
 
The Hawks had a 5-3 lead in the final stanza, but Misericordia answered with eight straight points stemmed from seven consecutive hitting errors capped by an ace to get out in front, 11-5. SUNY New Paltz never recovered despite getting as close as two at 11-13 and against at 12-14 but couldn't string one last run together with the hosts closing out with a kill.
 
The Hawks were led offensively by Tenedorio who scored a team-high 22 points on 19 kills with a hitting percentage of .308, while adding three assists, three blocks and five digs. Ndoria followed with 11 kills while hitting .222 with an ace, a block and a team-high 12 digs. Jain finished with six kills on 11 attempts (.364) with two aces and a game-high six blocks. Shanley and Marusza both facilitated the offense, totaling 29 and 18 assists, respectively.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back on the court Feb. 19, going on the road to face No. 4 nationally ranked Stevens.  


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