Williamsport, PA — The State University of New York New Paltz opened its 2025 campaign on the road at the Lycoming Tournament Friday and came away from a thrilling come-from-behind, five-set victory over the hosting Warriors before sweeping Pittsburgh-Greensburg to start the year 2-0.
 
The Hawks dropped the first two sets to Lycoming, 25-16, 25-21, but stormed back in the third to win the set, 25-21 before tying the match in the fourth, 25-21 and ultimately taking the victory with a 15-10 win in the final stanza.
 
Both teams struggled offensively with SUNY New Paltz holding the advantage, hitting .136 with 75 points and 58 kills, while the Warriors hit .108 with 57 points and 41 kills. Freshman Regan Dyba led the team with 10 kills and 14.5 points, while adding three aces, two blocks and four digs. Lola Konopa followed with 11.5 points, registering nine kills while hitting a team-best .286 with three assists, three blocks and three digs. Maria Weigand and Mirella Valluzzi each tallied nine kills while Lexi Stragalas totaled eight kills, two assists, an ace and seven digs.
 
An 8-0 run early in the third set allowed the Hawks to take control. Kim Braun served through the stretch to aid in the 13-3 advantage. The difference ballooned to as many as 12 thanks to an ace by Dyba following a kill from Valluzzi on an assist from Elena Savage to push the score to 22-10. A service error led to set point at 24-15, but Lycoming answered with four-straight points before Braun dumped a ball over for the kill to keep her team alive in the match.  
The fourth was tied at 16 before Stragalas allowed her team to side-out following a big swing off a set from Savage. Braun was handed the ball and again helped serve through a run, which led to a 20-16 advantage for the Hawks. They never trailed from there and held set point at 24-20 following a setting error by the Warriors. Braun then fed Dyba for set point, as the Flemington, NJ native registered the kill to tie the match at two sets apiece.
 
SUNY New Paltz trailed to start the fifth, but timely blocks by Konopa and Dyba brought the Hawks back to tie the set at eight. Lycoming answered with two straight points before an attacking error handed serve back to the visitors. The momentum swung and Dyba served seven-straight points, including back-to-back aces to win the period, 15-10 and the match, 3-2.
 
Braun and Savage facilitated the offense with 25 and 22 assists, respectively, while combining for three aces and 18 digs. Liberos Jordyn Lewis and Courtney Meyer were big defensively, as Lewis ended with a game-high 24 digs while Meyer added 13 digs with two aces and an assist.
 
SUNY New Paltz rolled against Pittsburgh-Greensburg in the second match of the evening, winning 25-19, 25-18, 25-19.
 
The Hawks held the advantage in nearly every category: out-hitting the Bobcats .209-.032, while tallying more points (51-32), kills (35-24), aces (11-5), blocks (5-3), assists (34-23) and digs (41-34).
 
Stragalas led the offense with 10.5 points on seven kills, three aces and a block while hitting .357. Weigand followed with 10 points, registering a game-high nine kills on an efficient .538 hitting percentage, while adding a game-high nine digs. Lewis finished with three aces and eight digs, while Braun and Savage tallied 17 and 13 assists, respectively, along with an ace apiece.
 
SUNY New Paltz concludes the Lycoming Tournament Saturday against Penn State Hazelton at 10 a.m.


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