Last season, the State University of New York New Paltz women's volleyball team fielded a young and inexperienced group, which finished 16-13 overall but built a run into the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament, halted by eventual champions SUNY Cortland. But, the 2025 Hawks have gotten stronger, both literally and figuratively, as they return the bulk of their roster who have gotten much needed experience on the court last season.
 
"Everyone who played in spring season and all the incoming people I've definitely seen so much improvement from them, comfort wise playing and confidence on the court," said Hawks junior captain Kim Braun. "I think everybody's connection as a team is also transferring onto the court, which is very important for our team chemistry and the sky is the limit for this team. We've worked so hard to be where we are now and we're not prepared to stop."
 
Entering his 22nd season as the head coach of SUNY New Paltz women's volleyball, Matt Guifre can only look forward as he will see his group build off the program's 21st consecutive .500 or better season and a semifinal berth in the SUNYAC championship. As usual, Guifre didn't let the young Hawks off easy, scheduling a challenging non-conference schedule that featured teams that finished the season regionally ranked and earning a place in the NCAA DIII championship.
 
A year later and with a year's worth of valuable on-court experience, the 2025 Hawks look to close out their SUNYAC account by challenging for their fourth conference title as they prepare to move on to the equally challenging landscape of the New Jersey Athletic Conference in 2026. The challenges abound with another demanding non-conference and conference schedule. Fourteen players from 2024 return for the Hawks, along with three new faces that look to add not only depth but impressive athletic skills.
"I think what has impressed me the most this preseason and even going back to our spring season is our dedication and how much we've worked especially in the spring season with lifts," said SUNY New Paltz senior captain Mirella Valluzzi. "I've never seen us put so much work into the weight room before and we've really been locked into lifting — lifting over the summer, making sure we're getting strong and that's definitely has shown off during preseason."
 
At the setter position, sophomore Elena Savage (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon HS) led the Hawks with 682 assists in 100 sets; she also added 151 digs, 44 service aces, 24 kills and six blocks.  Also back Braun (Garrison, NY/Walter Panas HS), who finished second in assists with 179 in 88 sets, with 50 service aces and 155 digs. Sophomore Mia Colombo (Holtsville, NY/Sachem HS East) saw play in 32 sets with 51 assists, 10 service aces and 20 digs.
 
"I definitely think that our schedule last year caused a lot of change for our team," Braun said. "[Offensively] instead of expecting a great A-swing to get a kill every time, we're fully prepared to keep playing and keep fighting for every point. Because we kept mainly the same system our sets definitely got a lot faster. We're doing this to elevate our play, so blockers aren't prepared because of the tempo of our sets."
 
Junior Courtney Meyer (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush HS) returns at libero, second in service aces a year ago with 48, along with 112 digs in 65 sets. With a year of collegiate experience under their belts, sophomore liberos Jordyn Lewis (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas HS) and Riley Guzman (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle HS) look to excel. Lewis saw action in 98 sets, with 34 assists, was third in service aces with 46 and led SUNY New Paltz in digs with 341. Guzman saw action in 25 sets with 19 digs.
 
Losing a three time-all conference middle hitter in Letisha Perez could be daunting but the Hawks have the talent returning to fill in the gap. Junior Lexi Stragalas (Syosset, NY/Syosset HS) started 20 of 28 matches with 97 sets. She scored 203 points with 174 kills, 26 assists, 61 digs and was second in blocks with eight. Junior Lola Konopa (West Islip, NY/West Islip HS) saw play in 34 sets with 41 kills, 10 assists, four service aces and 19 digs and 17 blocks.  
Though seeing limited action in 16 sets a year ago, sophomore Nora Keating (Brewster, NY/Brewster HS) can make big contributions to SUNY New Paltz's race to the conference title. Looking to make her presence known in 2025 is first year Maddy Casto (South Orange, NJ/Columbia HS). One of North Jersey's top players during her career at Columbia HS, in 53 sets played she had 205 kills and 183 blocks.
 
The right side lost a two-time all-conference selection and former AVCA All-American honorable mention in Jamie Albrecht, but again, the team has depth in experience to fill the bill. Valluzzi (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches HS) started 10 of 27 matches with 86 sets played, scoring 109 points with 98 kills, 33 digs and 20 blocks. Junior Christine Balbona (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) started nine of 21 matches with 48 sets played with 55 kills, six assists, four service aces and 21 digs.
 
"I think it's been a lot smoother on the offense. A lot of the freshmen from last year have been on the court already," Valluzzi said. "They have that game experience, so now they're just upping their playing level and they're really putting a lot of work in, putting in the reps."
 
Sophomore Maria Wiegand (Howard Beach, NY/Archbishop Molloy HS) leads the returning outside hitters, starting 22 of 25 matches with 86 sets played. She scored 158 points with 119 kills, nine assists, 37 service aces, 184 digs and 4 blocks. Senior Kailey Jankowski (Galway, NY/Galway HS) and sophomore Chloe Choi (Queens, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) each saw limited time a year ago but bring not only a year's collegiate experience but also the talent to excel for the Hawks. Two newcomers will vie for playing time at outside hitter: transfer Kaylee DeGroat (Wallkill, NY/Walkill HS) and first year Regan Dyba (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central Regional HS). DeGroat, a former All-NYS section, started 12 of 16 matches for SUNY Polytechnic in 2024. In 51 sets, she scored 90.5 points, with 76 kills, four assists, 12 service aces, 91 digs and five blocks. Dyba brings outstanding credentials from her career at Hunterdon Central Regional High School:  All-New Jersey, All-Group, All-Conference and ranked among the top two percent of attackers in New Jersey. Her career stats include 65 sets played, 697 kills,37.5 blocks, 336 digs and 23 assists and 69 service aces.    
"Spring season we worked a lot on not always swinging 100 percent but using our brain and placing the ball smartly. I feel like a lot of the hitters got a lot more comfortable doing that," Braun added. "We have to think about the positions more like scorers instead of hitters so our hitters have more of the mentality of scoring points in any way it takes so tips, rolls instead of swinging all the time, which I think has elevated our game and makes it a lot harder for people to play us."
 
Another challenging and exciting season awaits the Hawks in 2025. Preseason play will be important as this year's talented players strive to develop into a cohesive and aggressive unit, ready to challenge for the SUNYAC crown and prepare for the move to NJAC in 2026.
 
SUNY New Paltz will face 18 teams that saw postseason action in 2024, five of which were their respective conference champions and five of which earned spots in the national championship tournament.  Beginning the season on the road in Pennsylvania at the Lycoming Tournament, on Aug. 29-30. The Hawks will take on host Lycoming, U Pittsburgh-Greensburg and Penn State-Hazelton.  New Paltz begins the quest to the SUNYAC title, away Oct. 3-4, against
SUNY Oswego and SUNY Canton. Their final SUNYAC regular season matches will be against SUNY Fredonia and Buffalo State Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. SUNY New Paltz concludes the 2025 season on the road at cross river rival Vassar College on Nov. 5 and at NCAA DIII second round participant Stevens Institute Nov. 7.
 
"The potential I see in this team is honestly, unlimited," Valluzzi added. "Our goal for this season is to make it to the NCAA Tournament and that's very much in reach. I see it from every single one of our players on our team. We're buying in in the weight room, we're buying in on the court, we keep each other accountable for silly things that are controllables that shouldn't happen on the court, and I think that's all really good and it shows we can be a championship team. We just need to continue putting in the work all season."

Women's Volleyball Season Preview featuring Kim Braun & Mirella Valluzzi



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