Hawks Defeat Cortland in Five Games

CORTLAND, NY- The SUNY New Paltz women’s volleyball team continued their success with a five set victory over Cortland in the Hawks first game of the pool play. The Hawks won by the scores of 21-25, 25-11, 24-26, 27-25, 15-6 to improve to 23-5 overall and 4-1 in the SUNYAC. The Hawks have won 13 straight games and 21 of their last 22 games.

Head coach Matt Giufre said “I am very proud of my team the way they came out and battled a really good team on their (Cortland) home court. We made really good plays in tough moments to earn the victory.”

After falling behind in the first game, the Hawks came out and dominated the second set winning 25-11. In the third set, the Red Dragons stormed out with a 7-1 lead, but the Hawks were able to cut into the lead. Cortland would hold off the Hawks for the 26-24 set win. Trailing 2-1, the Hawks battled Cortland in the fourth set and earned a 27-25 hard fought battle and dominated the fifth set for a 15-6 win.

Senior Brittany Coyle led the attack with a season-high 19 kills and adding five blocks on defense. Sophomore Melinda DiGiovanna chipped in with 14 kills and senior setter Stephanie Bova dished out 30 assists. Senior Priska Wilson tallied 30 digs for the Hawks. New Paltz will return to the court at 7 p.m. against Plattsburgh.