SUNY New Paltz Men’s Volleyball Team Wins Pair at Elting

NEW PALTZ, NY — The SUNY New Paltz men volleyball team defeated conference rival Ramapo College 3-0 this afternoon. The Hawks took the first game 30-20, the second 30-19 and the third 30-16 to pick up their second conference win of the year.

SUNY New Paltz (3-5, 2-2) played the Roadrunners quite well through all three games. Junior opposite Ryan Bullard (Smithtown, NY) played some exceptional volleyball for the Hawks with nine kills, a service ace, six blocks, and a .429 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Chris Ganje (Halfmoon, NY) provided the Hawks with eight kills, three service aces, and two blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Joshua Spiro (Island Park, NY) registered six blocks for the Hawks as well as four kills and a .667 hitting percentage. As a team the Hawks achieved a .343 hitting percentage, including a .450 performance in game one and a .471 performance in game three.

The Roadrunners (8-3, 2-1) struggled throughout the match and posted a .034 hitting percentage. Freshman opposite Brendan Whitford (Lyndhurst, NJ) gave Ramapo their top showing with eight kills and a .400 hitting percentage.

The Hawks followed up their defeat of Ramapo College with a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology. SUNY New Paltz took the first game 30-24, dropped the second 19-30 and won the last two games 31-29, 31-29.

Bullard continued his strong play for the Hawks with 16 kills, a service ace, five digs, two blocks and a .500 hitting percentage. Including today’s earlier match, Bullard finished the afternoon with a .475 hitting percentage.

Ganje added 18 kills, a service ace, eight digs and a block, and senior outside hitter Mike LaRocco (Hauppauge, NY) provided 14 kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks to help the Hawks (4-5) to victory.

The Highlanders (4-1) were led by freshman outside hitter Eduardo Welter (Staten Island, NY) who had 26 kills, a service ace, eight digs and a .375 hitting percentage. Freshman Greg Wagner (Wilbraham, MA) and sophomore Pawel Pregowski (Bridgewater, NJ) added 15 and 10 kills, respectively.