New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz won both matches Saturday in the Hawk Center, hosting No. 15 and United Volleyball Conference rival MIT and St. Joseph's-Long Island for a tri-match.
 
The Hawks (12-5 overall, 2-0 UVC) won its second UVC matchup of the year after handing the Engineers just their third loss of the year and first in the UVC following the four-set victory, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-17. SUNY New Paltz then rolled the Golden Eagles in three sets in the night cap, 25-8, 25-23, 25-21.
 
The Hawks dropped the first set to the Engineers and coach Radu Petrus opted for his bench in set two with Mike Handell and Matt Marusza going in at middle and setter, respectively with the change sparking some momentum.
 
SUNY New Paltz tied the second at 10-10 after a missed serve from the visitors. The two then teams traded points until a kill from Michael Spiegel allowed the Hawks to side-out with Petrus subbing in Daniel Shanley to serve. The senior did his job, serving three-straight points and forcing consecutive MIT hitting errors before Spiegel capped the stretch with a kill off an assist from Marusza to allow the hosts to take a 17-13 advantage. The four-point run was what the Hawks needed, as they stayed in front the remainder of the set.
 
MIT threatened at 20-19, but Geoff Ndoria registered a kill to end the 4-0 run and SUNY New Paltz countered with consecutive points on hard serves from Ndoria to force back-to-back attacking errors by the Engineers. Tenedorio got SUNY New Paltz to set point with Matt Kudlinski subbing in and acing on the next play to tie the match at 1-1.

 
 
Kudlinksi was critical in the third as well, coming in with the Hawks up 21-16. Krish Jain helped his side with a solo block before Kudlinski added to the lead on a threaded serve that toed the sideline for an ace. Marusza helped his team to set point two points later, forcing a bad swing into the net after serving a tough ball at 23-17. The Engineers then helped out the hosts, serving into the net to conclude the third, 25-19.  
MIT served long to open the fourth, handing the ball to Marusza who served his team through a 5-0 run. SUNY New Paltz never trailed in the set and held a lead as large as eight at 20-12 with Shanley once again helping his team to a 4-0 run. A service error allowed the Hawks match point at 24-15 with Teplanksy putting the finishing touches on the victory, swinging hard from the right side on a ball from Marusza, registering the game-winning kill.
 
Ndoria led the team with 13.5 points on 12 kills off 22 attempts, hitting a productive .455 in the match with an ace and half a block with five digs. Tenedorio followed with 11 points on 11 kills, adding two digs. Teplansky and Peter Brustschin each had seven kills and combined for three blocks. Marusza ended with a team-high 29 assists with Shanley finishing with a team-high six digs to go along with nine assists and an ace.
 
Teplansky and Artair Kayser led the way offensively in Game 2 against the Golden Eagles. Kayser finished with a career-high 12 kills and 14 points to pace the team, while adding two solo blocks. Teplansky also finished with 12 kills, adding an assist and an ace to go along with a team-high 12 digs. Brustchin followed, totaling seen kills on eight attempts, hitting .875 with three block assists. Marusza facilitated the offense and finished with a season-high 40 assists in just three sets played with two aces and seven digs.
 
 
The Hawks went on a 10-1 run to get out to a comfortable 21-5 margin in the first and eventually won the set from the arm of Kayser and a hitting error from St. Joseph's-LI. The second was closer, but a 5-0 serving run by Ndoria pulled SUNY New Paltz ahead and the hosts never relinquished control from there. Kayser brought his team to set point with a kill at 24-22 and two points later Ndoria finished on a set from Marusza to close out the second, 25-23.
 
Petrus featured his two promising freshmen in the third and both contributed in the 25-21 third set victory. John Giotis served at 14-11 and Kayser got up for the solo block to fatten the cushion to four before Ethan Murray subbed in and recorded his third career kill at 20-16. Giotis followed two points later, getting up for a big swing for a kill, which aided in a 21-17 advantage. Murray then officially got his team to match point, swinging hard from the outside for a kill off an assist from Marusza. Shanley then came in to serve, leading to a game-winning kill from Teplansky to seal the 3-0 sweep.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Wednesday, as it returns to UVC action going on the road to face No. 17 nationally ranked Vassar at 7 p.m.  

Hawks vs MIT Highlights (video by Parker Stewart)


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