WELLESLEY, MA- In the opening match of day two at the Wellesley Invitational, the Hawks extended its winning streak to 10 with a 3-1 win over Endicott College. The Hawks are now 20-5 overall.
In a hard-fought first set, the squads traded side outs throughout the early rallies. Endicott used a four-point serving run from setter Mollie Postma to open a 17-14 edge, but New Paltz answered with seven straight to take a 21-17 lead enroute to a 25-22 win.
The Hawks maintained the momentum in set two, using a strong middle attack from Brittany Coyle (Middletown, NY) and backside attack from Ali Kiernan (New Hyde Park, NY) to build a 21-9 lead before taking the game 25-13.
Endicott rebounded in set three with a strong performance from its all-time kill leader Steph Wiese. The Gulls built a 12-10 lead midway through the game with back-to-back four-point runs from Brittany Phillips and Amy Grigg. Endicott extended its lead to 21-17 before snagging a 25-21 win and a 2-1 score in the match.
New Paltz responded with a six-point serving run from Loren Crabbe (Ballston Lake, NY) to open set four. The teams traded points for several rallies before another run from Crabbe gave New Paltz a 21-10 lead as they sealed the match with a 25-15 win.
Wiese and Phillips led the Endicott attack with 16 and 13 kills, respectively. In the backcourt, Ashley Norley tallied 24 digs to lead the Gulls, while Phillips chipped in 19 of her own. Allison Murphy tallied 27 assists in the loss.
For the Hawks, Kiernan tallied 12 kills while Coyle added 11 kills and five blocks. Priska Wilson (Warwick, NY) and Melinda DiGiovanna (West Hempstead, NY) anchored the defense with 24 and 20 digs, respectively, while Stephanie Bova (Central Square, NY) distributed 44 assists.
