New Paltz Athletic Communications
New Paltz, NY — The Hawks are up.
Last time the Oswego Lakers came into the Hawk Center three weeks ago, they fought valiantly to force a tight five-set match against the State University of New York New Paltz ultimately won to help secure the fourth seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. The re-match took place Tuesday night back in the Hawk Center, but this time the No. 4 seeded Hawks rolled to a three-set win over the No. 5 seeded Lakers (25-16, 25-23, 25-21), advancing to their fourth-straight SUNYAC Semifinal.
"It felt amazing to play in the quarterfinal to start with," said SUNY New Paltz senior captain Jamie Albrecht. "Being able to get a sweep is just the cherry on top. We played them earlier in the season and we took them to five, which was an exciting game but to be able to end it in three was wonderful."
The reigning AVCA All-America honorable mention pick was the offensive catalyst for the Hawks Tuesday, tallying 10 kills through two sets while hitting an efficient plus- .400. She ended with a game-high 13 kills, while adding two assists, 11 digs and a block to push her team through to the next round.
Albrect was the go-to hitter for setter Kim Braun in the first, as the senior laid down a kill to push the Hawks ahead, 13-12 midway through the first. Elena Savage followed with an ace on the next point and after a miss-hit by SUNY New Paltz, Albrecht and freshman outside Maria Weigand added back-to-back kills to force Oswego into its first timeout as the hosts held a 16-13 advantage.
The stoppage of play didn't thwart the Hawks, as Perez added onto the lead at 18-14, finding the open spot on the court just inside the endline on a broken play. Weigand extended her team's lead to 23-15 after getting a tip on a swing before Braun set Lexi Stragalas who swung hard to get SUNY New Paltz to set point. Braun put the finishing touches on the 1-0 advantage, as the sophomore setter ended a long rally with a cheeky dump for set point.
The Hawks showed their maturity in the final two sets, working their way through runs on both sides that could have extended the match. SUNY New Paltz coach Matt Giufre called a timeout at 12-8 in the second and his team responded with six-straight points with Weigand serving through the stretch. Regan Moeykens capped the surge with a kill with the Lakers ending the run on a dump by setter Mya Bush.
Oswego gained momentum and scored four-straight after SUNY New Paltz got up by one at 15-14 following a Stragalas kill. The Hawks didn't relent and worked their way back. Mirella Valluzzi helped her team side-out with a kill, allowing Giufre to sub in Courtney Meyer to serve who came up clutch to snatch momentum back for her team. SUNY New Paltz scored five-straight to get on top, 22-20. The run ended after Moeykens' swing landed just outside the line, but Letisha Perez answered for the Hawks as she smashed a free ball on the next play. Braun set Weigand who tallied a kill to get her team to set point, which was followed by a timeout from the Lakers.
Stragalas nearly put an exclamation point on the set out of the stoppage, smashing a free ball down the 10-foot line, but the point was signaled the other way on a net call. Braun didn't hesitate to go back to her sophomore middle and Stragalas delivered on the next point, ripping a ball to the opposite side with the Lakers having no chance to dig, allowing SUNY New Paltz to gain a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks had to show similar resiliency in the third, as a 17-9 lead was erased with Oswego coming all the way back to eventually tie the set at 19-all following an ace on a miscommunication by the Hawks. SUNY New Paltz shook off the miscue and never let the Lakers take full control. A block by Albrecht and Stragalas brought life back into the gym and galvanized the Hawks offense. The Lakers gave a point on a bad swing, leading to an attacking error with Jordyn Lewis serving bullets on the host side. She recorded an ace to get her team up, 22-19. Perez officially gave SUNY New Paltz match point with a kill with Oswego handing the sweep to the Hawks on a ball out of bounds for an attacking error, solidifying the 3-0 victory.
"We tend to get big leads, and then other teams tend to get big leads back on us and then we're back to same even point again but that has never stopped us preserving in hitting that 25 mark," Albrecht said. "We've practiced a lot going passed 25 so we never think we've won the set until the set is actually ours, so it was really fun to actually battle. But once again being on top is always feels better."
SUNY New Paltz earned numerous contributions in the win, including standout performances by Lewis and Weigand in their first postseason action. Lewis totaled a game-high 24 digs, averaging eight digs per set with 17 service receptions. Weigand did a little bit of everything, following Albrecht offensively with seven kills, hitting .304, while adding an ace, 10 digs and 19 receptions with a receiving percentage of .905.
Meyer was clutch in the serving game, tallying a game-high four aces. Perez tallied seven kills, hitting .455 with two assists and a block. Stragalas had six kills and two blocks, while Braun chipped in with a team-leading 21 assists to go along with two aces and six digs.
"A lot of people were excited and jittery going into the game and we all just got together in the locker room, calmed each other down, played some music and I think that was really helpful for each other, and went we got out on the court it felt just like another day in the gym for us," Albrecht said. "We played our heart out, we left everything out there and that's why we are on our way to Cortland."
SUNY New Paltz move on and face top-seeded Cortland on its home floor Friday in the semifinal round. The last time the two teams met in the postseason was last year's SUNYAC Final where the Red Dragons won, 3-0. Cortland also won the re-match in the regular season in three, but the Hawks enter as a different team for the upcoming matchup, playing some of their best volleyball as of late and winning seven of their last eight games.
"I think we've come a long way since the last time we played them, and I think we're excited to be on our way to Cortland soon and it's going to be a really good match," Albrecht said. "We haven't hit our peak yet, we're on the climb up and that's just exciting."
The SUNYAC Semifinal match is set for Friday at 4 p.m. at Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium.
