Box Score NEW PALTZ, NY – When you are the No. 1 ranked Division III men's volleyball team in the country, there are no easy matches. The proverbial bulls eye blinks brightly on your back each and every time you play.
The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team ran its winning streak to 10-straight matches on Friday night at the Hawk Center, but it wasn't necessarily easy in defeating Cairn University 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-13, 26-24).
The Highlanders gave the No. 1 nationally-ranked Hawks their best shot, but a resilient New Paltz team made just the right plays at just the right time to improve to 17-1 on the season. Cairn drops to 4-7. The beat continues for New Paltz as the Hawks next travel to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for a key United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match at 7:00 p.m. Cairn faces Daniel Webster at Southern Vermont College on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The deciding fourth set was replete with many twists and turns, and if not for a timely late set crosscourt kill from senior outside hitter
Brian Smith (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa), the match might have went to a fifth set. In the fourth, New Paltz could never fully escape Cairn. The set was tied nine times, leading to a dramatic 24-24 situation. The Highlanders, in fact, held a 19-16 lead following a New Paltz attack error. The Hawks came back, though, and took a 20-19 lead coincidentally enough, on four straight Cairn miscues.
The Hawks pulled ahead 22-20 on the last of a match-high 15 kills from middle block
Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa), but two straight New Paltz errors tied the set 22-20. The Hawks had match point at 24-23, but a service attempt sailed long for 24-24 tie.
Brian Smith answered with a huge kill on the next exchange and a Cairn attack error on the next possession provided the Hawks with a hard-fought 26-24 fourth set and match victory.
After dropping the second set, the Hawks were all business in the third set. Husmann had four kills in the stanza and sophomore middle block
Jake Roessler (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) added three for a New Paltz team that hit a sizzling .524 (12-1-24) and benefitted from a .000 hitting set (6-6-20) from the Highlanders. The Hawks broke out to a 14-5 lead, expanded it to 20-7 on a kill from senior sophomore setter
Christian Smith (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa), and cruised to a 25-13 win.
After cruising to an easy 25-13 win in the first set, one that saw the Hawks pull away from a 7-7 tie to build a 19-10 lead, the match got interesting in the second stanza.
The set was tied nine times, as New Paltz saw a late 21-19 lead evaporate into a 22-19 deficit following a service ace by Cairn sophomore middle hitter Randall Colson. The Highlanders took a 23-22 lead, only to see the Hawks tie the set 23-23 on a kill from freshman middle block
C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, NY/Lawrence). Cairn capitalized on back-to-back New Paltz miscues to win the set 25-23 and tie the match 1-1.
Behind Husmann's 15 kills, the Hawks hit a solid .340. Smith and Woessner each had eight kills, with Woessner hitting a tight .462. Junior setter
John Lutjen (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) had 19 set assists.
Cairn got 12 kills from junior outside hitter Ryan Garven and 25 set assists from senior setter Jon Wilson.
