New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Platz split its tri-match Saturday in the Hawk Center, falling to Rutgers-Newark in four sets (20-25, 27-25, 20-25, 23-25), while bouncing back with a sweep of SUNY Poly to cap the afternoon, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20.
 
The Hawks struggled offensively to start the match against the Scarlet Raiders, totaling nine kills on 29 attempts to hit zero in the stanza. The visitors got up 3-1 to start on back-to-back kills and a hitting error and never trailed the rest of the set. They eventually held a 20-15 lead following a SUNY New Paltz attacking error and sustained the five-point cushion and ultimately held set point at 24-19 following a kill by Michael Suarez. Geoff Ndoria allowed the hosts to side-out, but Rutgers-Newark closed the1-0 advantage with another kill from Suarez to end the first.
 
SUNY New Paltz bounced back in the second, rallying from a three-point deficit at 21-18 to eventually tie at 24-all, as a service error at set point by the Scarlet Raiders gave the team life. Matt Teplansky finished on a ball from Matt Marusza to knot the score with Mike Handell and Marusza coming up with a huge block to earn set point. A service error forced the exchange of serves, but Ndoria made up for the play with a kill on a free ball thanks to a tough serve from Handell. The Hawks officially tied the match on the next point, as Ndoria served for the win leading to an attacking error to end the extended period, 27-25.
 
 
The hosts led 20-19 in the third, but Rutgers-Newark went on a 6-0 run to snatch the 2-1 lead going into the fourth. Nikko Tenedorio gave the Hawks the first lead of the set on a solo block at 7-6, but the Scarlet Raiders answered with consecutive points to regain control. SUNY New Paltz made a mini-run early in the stanza as Daniel Shanley was the catalyst serving through the stretch that tallied kills from Krish Jain and Tenedorio to give the Hawks at 12-9 advantage, but Rutgers-Newark worked back into the set and a 4-0 run regained a one-point advantage at 17-16. Shanley served through one more Hawks run, forcing back-to-back hitting errors to push his team in front, 21-20, but the Scarlet Raiders tallied kills on three-straight points to earn match point at 24-22 and eventually won the game on a kill from Aleks Kolodziej to close out the set, 25-23.
Tenedorio and Ndoria led the team with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Tenedorio had a team-leading 13 kills on 33 attempts with three solo blocks and four digs. Ndoria added 11 kills, two assists, an ace and a team-high 11 digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz bounced back in game two, however, making quick work of the Wildcats who dropped their first match against Rutgers-Newark, 3-0.
 
Poly kept the first tight, getting within three late in the set with a kill by Jordan Prusky at 20-17. Tenedorio though allowed his team to side-out, leading to three straight serves from Shanley that led to a setting error and an ace before Michael Spiegel capped the stretch with a kill off an assist from Shanley to get the Hawks to set point. The two teams then traded service errors to end the first in favor of SUNY New Paltz, 25-18.
 
The Wildcats had a valiant effort in the second as well, as Prusky registered a kill to trim the deficit to one at 18-17 Hawks, but a service error handed the ball back to Shanley at the service line and the senior served four consecutive points to put his team in good position to take the second as well. Consecutive serving errors brought the score to 24-19 with Peter Brutschin finalizing the 2-0 lead with a big swing off an assist from Matt Marusza to end the period, 25-19.
 
John Giotis came off the bench and held SUNY New Paltz to a 21-17 lead, serving three points leading to kills from himself and Artair Kayser. Brutschin eventually got his team to match point with a kill off a set from Marusza and Tenedorio sealed the victory on the next point with an ace.
 
Spiegel led the team offensively with 13 points on 11 kills off 19 attempts to hit an efficient .474 with an ace and a block with five digs. Tenedorio followed with 12 points on eight kills, an assist, two aces, two blocks and four digs. Shanley and Marusza facilitated the offense, tallying 18 and 12 assists, respectively, while Max DeBonis led the team defensive, tallying eight digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Wednesday, going on the road to face New Jersey City University at 7 p.m.
 

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