Hawks Win Wellesley Tournament with 4-0 Record

WELLESLEY, MA– The SUNY New Paltz finished the Wellesley Invitational with a perfect 4-0 record and extended its winning streak to 12 matches with a 3-0 sweep of Wellesley College this afternoon at Keohane Sports Center. The Hawks are now 22-5 on the season. Wellesley drops to 15-7. 

New Paltz jumped to a commanding 15-5 lead in set one, scoring at will from every position while taking advantage of solid serving from Michelle Jacobson (Cortland Manor, NY) and Melinda DiGiovanna (West Hempstead, NY). Wellesley batteled back gradually trimming the lead to 24-19, but the Hawks held on for a 25-19 victory.

The squads traded side outs through the middle of set two, until Jacobson’s serving sparked a six-point run to give the visitors an 18-12 advantage. Wellesley trimmed the lead to 18-15 with kills from Alice Cummings and Isabel Custodio, but the Hawks continued to side out regularly behind swings from Stephanie Skrobach (Webster, NY) and squeezed out a 25-23 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set three proved to be a side out war, as neither team gained an advantage until back-to-back kills from DiGiovanna and Skrobach gave the Hawks a 16-13 edge. The Blue trimmed the lead to 19-18 on a kill from Elizabeth Campbell, but the Hawks answered with a three-point serving run from Dana Kindelmann (Nesconset, NY) and sealed the sweep with a 25-21 win.

Skrobach led New Paltz at the net, hammering 11 kills on just 16 attempts with no errors for a .688 hitting percentage. Brittany Coyle (Middletown, NY) added 10 kills and DiGiovanna chipped in nine. DiGiovanna and Jacobson anchored the defense with 12 and 11 digs, respectively, while Stephanie Bova (Central Square, NY) distributed 34 assists in the win.

For the Blue, Cummings recorded 16 kills while Campbell added 12. Naomi Iwata and Vivian Hu tallied 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Custodio and Victoria Peng shared setting responsibilities, combining for 36 assists.