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Box Score 2 Union, NJ – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball put forth another strong showing at the Kean University Tournament. The Hawks played their third straight five-set match to open up their season against Nebraska-Wesleyan University, but unfortunately could not pull out the win falling 17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 6-15.
Despite playing three five-set matches in less than 24 hours the Hawks were able to muster up the strength to defeat New York University in three sets 25-14, 25-18, 25-23.
In the opening match the Hawks once again led a balanced offense through the hands of
Maddie Zwickl. Zwickl dished out 48 assists while the Hawks had four players with double-digit kills:
Taylor Cimillo (14),
Kerri Neville (11),
Julie Greenspan (10), and
Maddie Van Pelt (10). Neville also added 5 blocks for the Hawks.
Veronica Matedero ran the back line for the defense racking up 20 digs.
The Hawks didn't let the loss alter their focus for their final matchup of the weekend against New York University. The team slogan, "Ending on Empty," came to fruition in the final game for the Hawks as they started out determined and focused to leave it all out on the court.
"Being able to refocus to play NYU after three five-set matches last night and another this morning, especially losing two of them, speaks volumes about the character and resilience our team has," said head coach
Matt Giufre. "Going into the NYU match I started to sense more of an assertive mindset and that really propelled us into playing our best volleyball of the weekend."
The Hawks started out hot as they dominated the opening set 25-14. In the opening set the Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead with Matedero serving and never looked back.
The second set started out as a game of runs with NYU starting ahead with a 4-0 lead before the Hawks answered with a six-point run of their own. The Bobcats of NYU weren't going to let New Paltz run away with another game however and ran another four straight points to take an 8-6 lead. After trading points the rest of the set, at an 19-16 lead for the Hawks
Nicole Fellone went on a three-point serving run to put the set out of reach.
The third set was all Bobcats until 20-13, and that's when the Hawks stepped up and mounted their comeback. The Hawks finished the set going on a 12-3 run to finish the match and get the win.
Emma Hines and Cimillo led the way offensively with 10 kills apiece with Cimillo hitting .400 on 15 attempts. Once again the senior tandem of Zwickl and Matedero led the team in their respective categories. Zwickl put up 26 assists while Matedero added 14 digs.
Matedero was recognized for her defensive effort by being named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Hawks will have some time to recover before they get back to the tournament grind as New Paltz will play host to their Hawk Invite on Friday 9/8 and Saturday 9/9.
