Box Score

The men's volleyball team lost in five sets to the State University of New York at New Paltz Hawks in a match between a pair of nationally-ranked top 10 teams on Thursday night in New Paltz, New York.

The visiting Bearcats (5-1) lost the opening set, 25-21, but came back strong during the next two for 25-21, 25-23 wins for a 2-1 set advantage.

They led 23-18 in the fourth, but the Hawks would tally six of the next seven points to tie the set at 24-all. The two teams exchanged points and were tied at 25, but the Hawks (7-0) received consecutive kills from Tim Ferriter for a 27-25 victory to tie the match and force the tie-breaker.

The Bearcats started strong again jumping out to a 3-0 lead on one of Nick Smith's 21 kills, but following a timeout, the Hawks tied the match with three quick points to turn the momentum back in their favor.

The Bearcats would later take a 14-13 lead on a kill by Gabe Rivera, but the Hawks scored the last three points to walk off with the 16-14 fifth set victory on their home court.

Nick Smith had a career match with 21 kills hitting .341 to go along with eight digs. Jack McKee finished with 12 kills, eight digs and four blocks.

Martin Joksimovik totaled 11 kills and seven blocks. Scott Standring, the CUNYAC Rookie of the Week, had another solid effort with 50 assists and 15 digs.

Gabe Rivera had 13 digs and four blocks. Taylor Higgs recorded 11 digs.

Overall, the Bearcats totaled 60 kills hitting .220 as a team, while the Hawks were slightly better with 63 kills hitting .240.

Tim Ferriter led the hosts this evening with 24 kills (.320) and 10 digs.

The men's volleyball team will begin their conference schedule on Saturday, February 9, with a pair of contests at the CUNYAC multi-match hosted by Lehman College in the Bronx. The Bearcats will play CCNY at 9:00 am, followed by Medgar Evers at 1:00 pm.

Due to weather concerns with the pending winter storm Nemo, the multi-match may be subject to rescheduling. As soon as any information is available, it will be posted quickly on BaruchAthletics.com.