New Paltz, NY — Riding off a three-game winning streak from the weekend, which included two conference victories, the State University of New York New Paltz was confident heading into its matchup against visiting No. 3 Springfield Wednesday night.

The Hawks (8-9 overall) fought hard through each set but couldn't get timely points with the Pride (14-2) earning the straight-set victory, 25-22, 25-23, 25-20.

SUNY New Paltz struggled finding an answer for Springfield's attack, as the visitors hit above .400 in each set and finished the day with an efficient .438 hitting percentage. The Hawks were also efficient, finishing the night hitting .338 and wasn't far behind in each offensively category with the Pride holding the slight edge in points (52-50) and aces (7-5), while each team had 40 kills and five blocks.

The first set was tied at 21-all thanks to a kill by Krish Jain off an assist from Matt Marusza, but Springfield countered with two-straight kills and a block to get to set point. A service error kept the set alive, the Pride closed out with a kill by Chris Rouleau.

After getting behind, 21-18 in the second the Hawks clawed back to tie the score at 23-all. A free ball sent back over, allowed for an easy pass to Marusza who set Peter Brutschin in the middle and the freshman smashed a kill to get SUNY New Paltz within one at 23-22. Nikko Tenedorio served the next point, which led to a Geoff Ndoria kill as the sophomore outside found the back of the court for the point to officially tie the game leading to a Springfield timeout.

Tenedorio served into the net, handing Springfield set point and in turn closed out the 2-0 lead as Jake DesLauriers serve hit the top of the net and fell to the floor on the Hawks' side to seal the period.
 

SUNY New Paltz faced an eight-point deficit in the third with the Pride owning a 17-11 lead following a hitting error, but the Hawks continued to grind to close the gap. Ndoria aided in the rally with a kill off an assist by Marusza before serving the next point which led to a Springfield hitting error. Matt Teplansky helped cut into the deficit as he secured kills to push the score to 22-17. The Pride held set point at 24-18, but Teplanksy swung for another kill before a block by Jain and Marusza brought the score to 24-20. However, Springfield locked in and won the match on a kill to solidify the 3-0 victory.

Michael Spiegel and Ndoria led the team offensively tallying 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Spiegel hit a productive, .474 with an ace, two blocks and three digs for 13.5 points, while Ndoria hit an even more efficient .467 with two assists, an ace and three digs for 11 points. Marusza facilitated the offense with a game-high 36 assists, while adding a team-high three aces, a block and a team-leading seven digs.

SUNY New Paltz is back in action Saturday, going to Boston for a tri-match hosted by MIT to face the Engineers and Wentworth at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively.


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