The St. Lawrence University volleyball team hit the road to face New Paltz and Mount Saint Mary College on day one of the Hawks Invitational in New Paltz, New York on Friday evening. The Saints fell to New Paltz 3-0 in their first match of the night, but the Saints rebounded to take Mount Saint Mary College 3-0 for their third win of the season.

Match 1 vs. New Paltz (New Paltz 3, St. Lawrence 0)
Box Score 

In the first match of the night, the Hawks swept the Saints in three sets by scores of 29-27, 25-20 and 25-20.

First year Natalie Piper led the Saints with a team-high 12 kills and 14 digs, while Grace Kelly totaled nine kills and 11 digs. Marissa Parker ranked third on the squad with five kills, while Maddy Bishop added nine digs. Leila Nayar recorded two service aces, while Teppo put up four blocks for the Saints

New Paltz jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead, but after trailing nearby the entire set, the Saints forced the set at 25-25. The Hawk's were able to regain the lead three more times to take the set 29-27.

In a close second set, SUNY New Paltz pulled ahead to make it 15-10. The Saints came back within three at 20-17, but the Hawks finished off the set.

The Saints fought hard and brought the third set within one at 13-12, but the Hawks were able to take the final set 25-20 and the win.

"We made a great push at the end of set one against New Paltz, where we played our best volleyball of the young season for about 7-8 points," said head coach Shelly Roiger. "Unfortunately we came up short and then we didn't execute as well the rest of the match."

New Paltz was led by Madison Van Pelt with 10 kills and six digs, while Taylor Cimillo and Kerri Neville each recorded six kills and Caleigh Carr added a team-high 14 digs.

Match 2 vs. Mount Saint Mary College (St. Lawrence 3, Mount Saint Mary 0)

The Saints claimed their third victory of the season topping the Knights 3-0 by scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 25-22.

Kelly led the Saints with 12 kills, while Bishop recorded six and Piper added five. Amanda Teppo posted a team-best four blocks and Vivian Susko and Kelly combined for 28 digs. 

"We were able to get everyone some playing time in the win against Mount Saint Mary and every single player did a tremendous job of making positive contributions," Roiger continued. "We have two dog fights in front of us tomorrow and with Liberty League play just two weeks away, we need to step up the quality of our execution."

Madelyn Barberan led Mount Saint Mary with 10 kills and 19 digs, while Morgan Burke added four blocks, Kim Gries assisted on 26 plays and Klaire Wall recorded three service aces. 

The Saints return to New Paltz for two more matches tomorrow, taking on Hamilton College at 12 p.m. and Alfred University at 2 p.m.