Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 23, 2009) – The SUNY New Paltz Hawks ousted Vassar's women's volleyball team from the unbeaten ranks on Wednesday night at Kenyon Hall, defeating the Brewers 3-1 (19-25, 30-28, 25-27, 17-25) in what has become the norm when both teams play: a hard fought, intense match that featured a multitude of long rallys and key plays being made at the right time. 

Vassar's first loss of the season has the Brewers at 8-1 heading into the MIT Invitational on Friday night against Colby College. New Paltz improves to 10-4 and will play in a SUNYAC Tournament on Friday at Oneonta. 

The Hawks jumped on Vassar early in the first set, taking advantage of Brewer errors to race out to a 17-8 lead. A late Vassar run made the score close, but New Paltz was firmly in control. 

Vassar won a dramatic and feverishly played second set 30-28, coming back from an early 7-2 deficit to tie the contest at 13-13. On the strength of three kills each by senior Sarah Potts and sophomore Amy Bavosa the Brewers where able to knot the match seven times until freshman Chloe McGuire earned one of her 13 kills that put Vassar ahead 28-27. A kill by Bavosa and a set error by New Paltz propelled Vassar to a 30-28 win. In the match-tying second set, Potts had seven of her 12 kills. 

At 1-1, the match teetered on a tightly contested third set, one that saw the Brewers serving for the set at 24-23. New Paltz capitalized on a Vassar miscue and was able to get set-winning kills from senior Stephanie Bova, following a thwarted Vassar block attempt, and the last from senior Kelcey Noble. The narrow loss otherwise dampened an outstanding set by senior Tess Johnson who tied Bavosa for a team-high with 14 kills, getting eight of those in the third set. 

The fourth set was evenly played, although New Paltz was able to nudge ahead 13-10 until a Bavosa kill cut the Hawks' lead to 14-12. From that point, however, the New Paltz won 12 of the next 17 points. New Paltz' court coverage made it difficult for the Brewers to find an opening. The Hawks -- a team that won 32 games last season and advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship Elite Eight -- got exceptional play from libero Loren Crabble, who had 25 digs and their middle hitters, led by Brittany Coyle who had 11 kills and Allison Kiernan with 10 kills. Bova had 43 assists for New Paltz. 

The Brewers got another double figures kill performance from McGuire with 13 kills, in addition to her 16 digs and three block assists. Fellow freshman Hilary Koenigs, the Liberty League Player of the Week, continued her impressive play, accounting for a career-high 50 set assists and 16 digs. Junior Chelsea Mottern anchored the Vassar defense with a career-high 28 digs.