NEW PALTZ, NY- The New Paltz men’s volleyball team defeated the Gothic Knights from New Jersey City University, 3-1 (30-20, 30-22, 24-30, 30-26) Friday night in the Hawk Center to improve to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the NECVA Metro. The Hawks held NJCU to a .175 hitting percentage (50-29-120) while the Hawks hit .350 as a team (64-21-123).
Kevin Stross led four Hawks in double-digit kills with 15 (15-1-21, .667) with five digs and four assisted blocks. Sean Foley had 14 kills (14-5-24, .375) with nine digs and Dan Liberto had 13 kills (13-5-31, .258) with three assisted blocks. Jake Moore finished with 11 kills (11-3-19, .421) and three assisted blocks and Andrew Cassius helped the Hawks to 64 kills on the night with 50 assists and three service aces.
Danny Kochanski led the Gothic Knights with 15 kills and Austin Bryant and Michal Kucza each had 11 kills a piece, including eight digs and three blocks (two assisted) for Bryant.
Despite being overmatched in size and power, the Gothic Knights were able to hang around with the Hawks to a 7-7 tie. Then the Hawks would just pull away scoring 10 of the next 14 points on two different occasions for the 30-22 set victory.
In set two, after the Gothic Knights cut the lead to 7-6 with a kill by Jose Matta, the Hawks would score nine of the next 12 points. Liberto added two kills during the streak. The Hawks would continue to pull-away from there with an 8-4 run. The Hawks would cruise to the 2-0 advantage with a 30-22 set victory.
In set three, the Gothic Knights stormed out to a 7-3 lead and the Hawks were unable to recover and fell 30-24 as NJCU cut the lead to 2-1.
In the forth set, the Hawks jumped out quickly with a 6-3 lead, but NJCU battled back to tie the game at 6-6. The Hawks would score two straight, but only to see the Gothic Knights tie the make at 9-9. After the Gothic Knights pulled within one at 15-14, the Hawks would score nine of the next 13 points to take a 24-18 lead. The Hawks would hold on for the 30-26 set victory and the win.
The Hawks return to the court tomorrow at 12 p.m. against NYU-Poly Tech on the campus of NYU-Poly Tech.
