Lions Fall to No. 2 New Paltz St. at UVC Tournament

ROCHESTER, NY  – Tim Ferriter and Christopher Husmann had double-digit kills with 12 and 10, respectively, to lead No. 2 New Paltz St. past Penn State Behrend 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Tournament on Saturday afternoon hosted by Nazareth.

The Hawks (25-3) extend their win streak to seven-straight matches with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-20 victory over the Lions (15-9). Behrend was led by Nathan Steele's (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) seven kills and Colin Ingram's (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Darby) 15 assists.

New Paltz St. wasted no time jumping out to the early lead, starting the first set with a 10-1 run. Three attack errors and a kill from Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) helped the Lions get within four at 10-6. The Hawks eventually regained a nine-point lead at 22-13, before a kill from Brian Smith secured game one, 25-15.

In addition to Ferriter's 12 kills, he added five aces including three in the second set to put New Paltz St. ahead 12-3. His fourth ace of the set came at 23-13 and another Smith kill combined with a kill from John Lutjen put the Hawks up 2-0 in the match with a 25-15 second-game victory.

With the match on the line, Behrend came out in the third set and took 10-7 lead thanks to a pair of kills from Ty Sheehan (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) and another by Steele. Five costly errors gave New Paltz the lead at 12-11. The Lions kept the match within three points, but the Hawks had the finals say and the win on a kill from Husmann (25-20).

Grant Kocher (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) tallied four digs and three kills with one assist. Sheehan added three kills and two digs.

Behrend, who advanced to its third straight UVC Tournament, finishes its first winning season with a 15-9 overall record.