Rochester, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz lost in five sets to St. John Fisher College Sunday, 24-26, 15-25, 25-23, 25-22, 11-15.
The No. 17 Hawks dropped to 11-12 overall after falling to the No. 12 Cardinals in five sets, which dropped their United Volleyball Conference record to 3-3 overall after losing to No. 18 Nazareth Saturday, also in five sets.
St. John Fisher held the advantage in the front row, totaling 15 blocks in the game while hitting a productive .354 with 76 points scored. SUNY New Paltz, meanwhile, hit .238 with 69 points on 58 kills.
The Hawks trailed 17-14 in the first before a timeout by coach
Radu Petrus regrouped his team who scored four of the next five points to tie the set at 18 all, thanks to three kills by
Daniel Shanley. SUNY New Paltz tied the set three more times at 19, 21 and 22-all before going up by one following an attacking error at 23-22. St. John Fisher tied the period at 24-all on a kill and took set point at 24-14 on an ace and closed out a point later after a miss-hit by the Hawks to close out the first. 26-24.
After the Cardinals rolled in set two, 25-20, SUNY New Paltz answered to extend the match into a fourth after taking set three, 25-23. A kill by
Nikko Tenedorio got the Hawks to set point and Tenedorio solidified the win a point later on another big swing on a free ball over.
Four straight points in the middle of the fourth set allowed SUNY New Paltz to take control at 17-14, capped by a kill from
Mike Handell. The Hawks never trailed from then on, as Handell answered with a kill after the Cardinals got within one at 18-17 and
Geoff Ndoria produced a kill off an assist from
Matt Marusza to push the Hawks ahead at 20-18. St. John Fisher tied the score at 20 and 21-all, but
Matt Teplansky delivered a kill to help his team side-out at 22-21.
Matt Kudlinski then came in and the serving specialist delivered with two straight aces to get his team to set point. Tenedorio then tied the match at 2-2 after registering a kill off a set by Marusza to take the fourth for SUNY New Paltz, 25-22.
The Hawks held an 8-6 lead at the switch following a dump by Marusza to register a kill to push his team up two. Ndoria re-established a two-point lead following a kill, but St. John Fisher answered with four-straight points before Ndoria helped his team side-out once more at 10-11. A block by the Cardinals helped them stay ahead and they doubled down with a kill and ultimately too the momentum into the final three points, as they answered a service error with two-straight kills to win the fifth, 15-11.
Tenedorio led the way offensively, registering 17 kills while hitting .343 with two assists and four digs.
Michael Spiegel followed with nine kills, an ace two blocks and four digs. Ndoria chipped in with eight kills, one assist and three digs. Marusza finished with a season-high 44 assists.
SUNY New Paltz resumes UVC play Wednesday, hosting No. 9 Vassar in the Hawk Center at 7 p.m.
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