Hawks Lose Hard-Fought Match to MIT

NEW PALTZ, NY – — The SUNY New Paltz men’s volleyball team lost a hard-fought three-game match to MIT this afternoon at Elting Gymnasium.

New Paltz, who dropped to 0-9 on the year, built a 19-16 lead in the first game before MIT rallied to tie it at 23. The Engineers then benefited from three straight attack errors by the Hawks and rode a .313 hitting percentage to claim the opening game 30-26.

In game two, the Hawks fought off a 26-21 deficit and took a 29-28 lead on a kill by sophomore Mike LaRocco (Hauppauge, NY). After MIT answered with the tying point, Milo Raimondi (Milain, Italy) served the next two points for the Engineers and senior Ramon Partida (Puerto Rico) put the game away with a kill giving MIT a 31-29 win.

The Engineers (5-5) scored the first four points of game three and held a 17-9 lead at one point. The Hawks rallied behind the play of sophomore Chris Ganje (Halfmoon, NY) and some unforced errors by the Engineers to trim the deficit to 23-21. MIT then scored the next five points and pulled away to reach the .500 mark.

Ganje led the Hawks with 16 kills and a .407 hitting percentage. Senior Dan Roy (Los Angeles, CA) had 18 kills, three digs and a .448 hitting percentage for MIT. Senior Garrett Barter (Denver, CO) added 12 kills and hit .688 for the Engineers.