Jersey City, NJ — The State University of New York New Paltz dominated through a three-set victory on the road over New Jersey City University Wednesday night, winning 25-20, 25-22. 25-17 to collect its second consecutive three-set victory.
 
The Hawks improved to 10-5 overall with the victory, while the Gothic Knights dropped to 9-4. The visitors held the advantage in virtually every offensive category, out hitting the hosts, .291 to just .102, along with tallying more points (54-35), aces (7-4), assists (32-21) and nearly double the kills (40-22).
 
New Jersey City had no answer for SUNY New Paltz sophomore outside Nikko Tenedorio, who finished with a game-high 12 kills on 18 attempts to hit .500 in the match while adding two aces, a block and two digs. Michael Spiegel followed offensively for the Hawks with eight kills, while Geoff Ndoria and Mike Handell had seven and six, respectively. Senior setter Daniel Shanley spread around the offense, totaling a game-high 29 assists to eight different hitters, while also registering two kills of his own to go along with two aces and three digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz never trailed in the first set, although the Gothic Knights caught up to trim the deficit to within two at 20-18. A kill by Tenedorio allowed the Hawks to side out, which then led to a block by Handell and Ndoria thanks to a tough serve from Tenedorio. The two teams traded points before a kill by Spiegel allowed his team to side out one last time before a block in the middle by Ndoria and Peter Brutschin sealed the first set victory, 25-20.  
The Gothic Knights held onto a two-point lead at 10-8 before four-straight points pushed SUNY New Paltz in front in the second. Shanley served through the run, capping the stretch with an ace. The Hawks led from that point forward with another four-point run solidifying a comfortable cushion thanks to a good serving run from Handell. Spiegel brought his team to set point once again, smashing a kill off a set from Shanley and although New Jersey City rallied to get within two, Brutschin ended the set on a kill in the middle to grab SUNY New Paltz a 2-0 lead following the 25-22 victory.
 
The Gothic Knights cut the difference to two late in the third, as a kill brought the score to 18-16 in the third and final set. However, Tenedorio sided out for his team on a kill, handing the ball to Shanley on the serving line and the captain took care of the rest. He served four-straight points forcing back-to-back attacking errors to aid in a 23-16 cushion. Krish Jain joined the fray, rising for a kill off an assist from Shanley before Tendorio sealed the win on a game-winning ace on the next point to solidify the set, 25-17 and the match.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action, as it returns home to host a tri-match against MIT and St. Joseph's-Long Island. The Hawks will face the UVC rival Engineers at 1 p.m. before taking on the Golden Eagles at 5 p.m. in the Hawk Center.


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