Geneva, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end as it suffered its first conference loss of the season after falling to hosting Hobart in five sets Friday night (12-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-25, 10-15).
 
The Hawks (20-6, 5-1 UVC) had the ability to clinch the No. 1 seed in the United Volleyball Conference for the first time since 2023, but with the Statesmen earning the victory they hold control over hosting rights as they improved to 13-11 and 5-1, respectively. SUNY New Paltz will have to defeat Elmira Saturday in its regular season finale and hope NYU beats Hobart as well to claim the top seed.
 
The Statesmen out-played the Hawks in the five-set battle. They out-hit the visitors (.054-.204) and totaled more points (75.5-49), kills (55-37), aces (6-4), blocks (14-8), assists (52-37) and digs (50-46).
 
They stormed out to a 1-0 lead after holding SUNY New Paltz to just 12 points on six kills with the hosts outscoring the Hawks 25-9 after they initially got out to a 3-0 lead to start the match.
 
SUNY New Paltz bounced back in the second and after Hobart got within one midway through the stanza, Matt Kudlinski subbed in and aided in a 4-0 run as he served three-straight points that resulted in consecutive hitting errors that brought the Hawks advantage to 21-16. A service error eventually gave SUNY New Paltz set point at 24-19 with Geoff Ndoria finally putting the period away, recording a kill off an assist from Matt Marusza to finalize the 25-22 outcome.  
The Hawks took a 2-1 lead in the match after winning the third set. The stanza was tied at 20 before Nikko Tenedorio allowed SUNY New Paltz to side-out with a kill. They stayed in front from then on, as a hitting error helped the visitors to set point with Daniel Shanley serving the final two points resulting in another hitting error to close out the third, 25-21.
 
However, the Hawks couldn't put away the Statesmen with the hosts climbing back with a commanding 25-16 win in the fourth to extend the match to a deciding fifth set. They held the lead of 8-7 at the switch and proceeded to score two more off an ace and then an attacking error by Tenedorio with SUNY New Paltz caught out of system.
 
Hobart stayed in front, as two points were countered with a kill and an attacking error, which resulted in match point for the hosts at 14-10. The Hawks couldn't hold off the Statesmen, and a kill sealed the win for Hobart.
 
Matt Teplansky and Tenedorio led SUNY New Paltz offensively with nine kills apiece. Marusza totaled a team-high 29 assists, while Ndoria had a team-high 11 digs.
 
The Hawks hope to end the regular season with a win, as they conclude their last match before postseason play on the road against Elmira Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
 
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