NEW PALTZ, NY — SUNY New Paltz junior outside hitter Mike LaRocco (Hauppauge, NY — Smithtown HS) was named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III National Player of the Week on Monday.
LaRocco helped lead the Hawks to a pair of 3-0 wins over North Eastern College Volleyball Association (NECVA) Metro Division opponents New Jersey City University and Mount St. Vincent last week.
He opened the week with 10 kills, nine digs and a .381 hitting percentage against New Jersey City University on Mar. 25. Two days later, LaRocco helped SUNY New Paltz avenge a 3-0 loss to Mount St. Vincent in January with a sweep over the 14th ranked Dolphins. LaRocco tallied 14 kills with just one error in 21 attempts for a hitting percentage of .691 for the match.
His effort also helped SUNY New Paltz move into second place in the NECVA Metro Division standings. The Hawks, who are 15-7 overall and 8-3 in NECVA play, have two games remaining in the regular season. SUNY New Paltz will host Yeshiva on Mar.30 and will travel to Vassar for the regular season finale the next day.
The Hawks will travel to Medaille College in Buffalo, NY for the opening round of the NECVA Tournament. SUNY New Paltz, seeded seventh in the 12-team tournament, will play tenth-seeded Mount St. Vincent on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the quarterfinal round against second-seeded and defending NECVA Champion Stevens Tech on Saturday at 10 a.m.
