After suffering a heartbreaking loss to then-No. 3 Vassar College on Senior Night 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-13, 17-15) the Hawks took one out of two games at a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Crossover at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, April 1, as well as dropping the regular season finale at the hands of No. 1 Springfield College 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-14).
Hawks fourth-year middle blocker C.J. Borfitz says the match against Vassar was a hard fought match and that the team is excited for the matchup in the UVC Tournament next week.
“The game against Vassar was a tough one for us,” he said. “We came out hot and played well the first two sets and everything seemed to be clicking for us. We let them back into the game and allowed them to find a rhythm. They are a good team and you can’t allow a team like that to have any sort of life because they are good enough to go on a run like they did.”
New Paltz defeated Nazareth College 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-22) in their first matchup of the day.
Third-year outside hitter Anthony Bonilla led the way for New Paltz, racking up nine kills, four digs, three blocks and one service ace.
Second-year setter and outside hitter Bradley Schneider contributed seven kills, while fourth-year co-captain Jake Roessler chipped in six kills, five digs, two blocks and one service ace.
Borfitz racked up six blocks and first-year setter Matthew Grace pulled in 25 assists and one service ace
The Hawks were then swept by then-No. 5 Stevens Insititute of Technology 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 26-24).
Fourth-year co-captain Steven Woessner returned from illness to tally 11 kills, while Bonilla contributed eight of his own and Roessler registered five.
For the Ducks, first-year middle and outside hitter David Lehman led the way with 12 kills, while fourth-year outside hitter Gabe Shankweiler registered 10 kills, two service aces, three blocks and five digs.
Against Springfield, Roessler, Bonilla and Woessner combined for 26 kills, as well as Bonilla and Roessler recording eight digs.
Grace logged 28 assists and first-year libero Robert Nolan had three assists and five digs.
For the Pride, fourth-year right side hitter Sean Zuvich recorded 11 kills and two digs, while fourth-year outside hitter Luis Vega logged 10 kills, two blocks and one assist.
Petrus says that regardless of the loss the team still needs to do their best.
“Injuries and health have been some problems we have run into, so we really need the bench guys to step up,” Petrus said. “We can be better, but we need everyone. We need to create balance for each rotation on the court.
“We have a lot of bench players we expect to step up, but they need to find their right position on the court. They can make a difference.”
The Hawks will next faceoff against Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the quarterfinals of the UVC tournament at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie on Thursday, April 13 with a start time of 5 p.m.