Box Score Oneonta, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team took out SUNY Oneonta in four sets 25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 28-26 thanks to strong performances from both of their outside hitters. Taylor Cimillo recorded 20 kills on 59 attempts while Maddie Van Pelt tallied 19 kills on 42 swings to lead the way for the Hawks.

"Taylor and Maddie Van Pelt really put us on their shoulders offensively and did an amazing job knowing when to just keep the rally alive," said head coach Matt Giufre. 
 
The most important weekend of the season for the women's volleyball team started out with the host, the Oneonta Red Dragons. The Hawks got off to a bit of a slow start and found themselves trailing 18-15 in the first set, but that's when they caught fire and went on a 10-2 run to clinch the first set 25-20. To finish up the set freshmen Caleigh Carr went on a 5 point serving run.
 
After dropping a tight second set 24-26, SUNY New Paltz rolled through set three with a score of 25-17. The Red Dragons weren't going to roll over though, and battled back in the fourth set. The Hawks were up 16-10 in set four and looking like they were ready to cruise to a 5-2 record in SUNYAC play when Oneonta stepped up their play.
 
The Hawks found themselves trailing 24-20 and needing to save four match points before facing a deciding fifth set. A block by Kerri Neville and Cimillo did just that and the Hawks knotted up the set at 24-24. SUNY New Paltz saved two more set points at 25-24 and 26-25 before finally running together three straight points and a kill by Julie Greenspan sealed the set for the Hawks 28-26.

"Tonight was a big win for us," said Giufre. "We showed great perserverance coming back in the first set to get up 1-0. Then in the 4th a seven point lead seems comforting but Oneonta got on a run to do a better job stopping that before the momentum completely changes. I give a lot of credit to our team for maintaining poise once we lost the lead to fight back into the set and pull out the win."
 
Cimillo added 13 digs to go along with her offensive outburst to post a double-double on the day, while senior Libero Veronica Matedero notched 21 digs of her own. Senior setter Maddie Zwickl dished out 45 assists on the match.
 
"I thought Maddie Zwickl used the right people at the right time," said Giufre. "Veronica and Nicole also made some incredible digs to allow us to score the way we did and kept rallies alive that were really difficult. I am proud of the character we showed tonight but now we need to show we can repeat in two very challenging matches tomorrow."

The Hawks now stand at 5-2 in the SUNYAC and with two more matches coming up tomorrow against Oswego State and Fredonia State, playoff seeding implications are still at stake for SUNY New Paltz.
 
SUNY New Paltz faces Oswego State at noon and Fredonia State at 5:00 p.m.