Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MAHWAH, N.J. – The No. 4 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team started the 2014 season off on the right foot, dealing a pair of straight-set losses to City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) teams on Saturday at the Roadrunner Invitational hosted by Ramapo College. The Hawks beat Brooklyn College, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-15), before topping The City College of New York, 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-17).
 
New Paltz moves to 2-0 overall and faces a pair of tough tests tomorrow, taking on No. 11 Stevenson University at 12 p.m. before wrapping up the tournament with a 2 p.m. encounter with host Ramapo. Brooklyn falls to 0-2 and meets up with Ramapo (10 a.m.) and CCNY (12 p.m.) tomorrow, while CCNY drops to 0-2 and squares off with Stevenson (10 a.m.) and Brooklyn (12 p.m.) tomorrow.
 
Against Brooklyn, the Hawks played a number of student-athletes, and the result wound up being the same no matter who was on the court. New Paltz finished with a .486 hitting percentage, which was achieved off 41 kills and just seven attacking errors on 70 total attempts.
 
New Paltz surrendered the lead just once in the match, as Brooklyn had a strong start in the second set. After a kill by sophomore outside hitter Tim Ferriter (Rochester, N.Y./West Irondequoit) opened up a 4-3 edge for the Hawks, the Bulldogs received two straight points off a service error and a kill by senior setter/outside hitter Timothy Hui to go on top, 5-4. New Paltz scored five of the next six points to construct a comfortable edge it would ride out the remainder of the set.
 
The Bulldogs had designs of forcing a fourth set early in the third, as two unforced New Paltz errors knotted the score at 7-all. The Hawks scored eight of the next nine points, though, and a Brooklyn hitting miscue gave New Paltz a 15-8 advantage. Brooklyn scored consecutive points twice more in the set, but it was not enough to overcome New Paltz.
 
Junior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) played in all three sets, finishing with eight kills, 15 assists, two service aces and a .727 (8-0-11) hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) doled out a match-high 18 assists and had three service aces, while senior outside hitter Brian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) notched six kills and five digs.
 
For Brooklyn, sophomore middle hitter Antony Koyfman totaled five kills, and Hui defended seven digs.
 
New Paltz continued to score at will against CCNY, hitting .444 in the first set and .545 in the second set en route to fashioning an overall hitting percentage of .386. Furthermore, the back row played well, totaling 26 digs to the Beavers' 14.
 
CCNY challenged the Hawks early, taking advantage of a pair of New Paltz attacking errors to mount a 5-3 lead. The Hawks evened the tally with a Beaver setting error and a C. Smith kill, and they did not trail in the set from that point forward.
 
The Beavers once again played New Paltz tough out of the gates in the second, staying within two points of the Hawks until Lutjen opened up a three-point edge (12-9) with a kill. CCNY drew within two points three more times, but a 4-0 New Paltz run on the strength of kills from junior outside hitter Gus Gregory (Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas), sophomore outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham), C. Smith and senior middle blocker Dylan Rabidoux (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) put the set out of reach.
 
The third set got out of hand for the Beavers early, as a 7-6 New Paltz lead grew after six straight Hawk points. Down 24-13, CCNY staved off match point four times until Fishman ended the match with a termination off a set from sophomore setter/defensive specialist Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber).
 
Lutjen led a balanced attack once again with seven kills, while C. Smith and Lutjen dished out 13 and 11 assists, respectively. C. Smith totaled five digs, while Gregory provided two service aces.
 
David Avezov led CCNY with five kills, and Anthony Reyes finished with 10 assists. Nicholas Siriban registered five digs to pace the Beavers on defense.