NEW PALTZ, NY - The Oswego State Lakers traveled to New Paltz, New York for the first round of the SUNYAC Women's Volleyball playoffs.  Earlier this year, the Lakers fell to the Hawks, 2-3 in the same building they are playing in tonight and were looking for some revenge over their host.
 
THE BASICS
Oswego (14-14, 5-4) 0
New Paltz (16-12, 6-3) 3
16-25, 23-25, 21-25
 Location: Hawk Center, SUNY New Paltz 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
On the opening serve Lilian Byrne was served up by Mya Bush for a kill followed by another assist from Bush, this time to Simplicio. The Hawks grabbed their first lead of the set when Byrne was blocked at the net giving New Paltz a 7-6 lead. The Lakers came right back with a block of their own from McReynolds and Byrne to tie the score. New Paltz earned a small scoring run taking a16-13 lead and forced a timeout from the Lakers. Out of the timeout, the Hawks set off on another 5-1 run and the Lakers took their second timeout of the set. Oswego came out and stopped the run with a kill from Lilian Byrne once again. The lead proved to be too much for the Lakers and much like their meeting earlier in the year, Oswego dropped the first set, 25-16.

The Hawks carried their momentum into the second set jumping out to a 3-1 lead. Back-to-back kills from Emily Zeisler and Cara Simplicio got the Lakers right back into this one, tying the set at 4 points each. That score went on to double for each team knotting the set at 8. From there, Oswego went on a 4-point scoring run to grab a 12-8 lead and forced a timeout by the Hawks. This proved to be a useful timeout because New Paltz came out and grabbed a 13-12 lead of their own. This determined Lakers team would not go away and after a service ace from Lauren Cropp, took a 17-15 lead over their host. Head Coach Jon Stenman took his first timeout of the set with the Lakers trailing 21-20. Oswego went on to use their final timeout of the set when they found themselves down 24-22. Unfortunately, the Hawks closed out the lakers in set 2, 25-23.

In the third set the Hawks jumped out to an 8-2 lead after taking the first two sets. Oswego was forced to take a timeout, but the Hawks came back out and added to their lead. Oswego continued to try and dig into the Hawks lead throughout the set but when they took their second timeout, the Lakers were trailing, 17-9. A small run for the Lakers capped off by two aces from Cara Simplicio got the Oswego within range at 17-13 and forced a timeout by the Hawks. The Lakers came back out and closed the gap by one more point to make it 17-14. Then, Mya Bush delivered an assist to Lilian Byrne for a kill and another ace from Simplicio nearly tied the score, 17-16. A few points later, the Lakers would tie the set up off an ace from Lauren Cropp at 19 all. From here on, the Hawks offense kept the Lakers at bay and capped off a three-set sweep, 25-21.

WHAT'S NEXT
This completes the season for the Lakers women's volleyball team. Thank you to our graduating senior for a great season!