SUNY New Paltz traveled to Boston to take on the number ten ranked Wentworth. Prior to the match the Hawks had an up and down season with a record of 9-9. Eight of those losses came to the top 20 NCAA Division III opponents and Division II Menlo. Prior to the match against Wentworth the Hawks had three conference UVC wins against Hobart, Elmira and MIT. Wentworth came into the match with a 14-4 record and a perfect 6-0 in the Great Northeast conference play.
The match went the distance with New Paltz coming out on top in five (25-21, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-11). Statistically both teams were close with Wentworth posting 54 kills, 22 errors, 124 attempts, 50 assists, six aces, 10.5 blocks and 70.5 points in the match. New Paltz recorded 56 kills, 21 errors, 117 attempts, 52 assist, four aces, 13 blocks and 73 points. “I thought the match vs New Paltz was a great opportunity for us to play a competitive out of conference match in the second half of the season. We haven’t been in a five-set match since opening weekend and we need to familiarize ourselves with that feeling should we see that in important conference matches down the stretch. We must continuously find ways to improve if we want to extend our season into late April,” said Wentworth Head Coach Evin Giglio.
Although the stats were close throughout the match many of the sets had big lead changes and long scoring runs. In set one the Hawks found themselves up 20-11. Wentworth found some late momentum, but the Hawks came out on top 25-21 in set one.
Wentworth regrouped to win sets two and three. The Leopards held the momentum for long stretches. During the match the Leopars got an offensive boost from middle Nico Bell and outside Mason Andrade. Bell had 10 kills and hit .643. Andrade added 11 kills and hit .625. “Nico and Mason were both really efficient offensively during the match. Nico is second on the team in hitting percentage and Mason has been our most consistent OH on the season, so it’s no surprise to me those guys put up the offense performance that they did. Mason passed great in the match too,” said Coach Giglio.
In set four New Paltz regrouped and took control of the match. They held a comfortable lead and found themselves up 23-15. The Leopards managed a five-point run, but the Hawks held on 25-21. The fifth and decisive set was knotted up at 7-7. The Hawks used a late 5-0 run that help them come out victories against the Leopards.
Throughout the match sophomore opposite Michael Spiegel had timely kills, blocks and serves. He finished the match with 15 kills and 4 blocks. Outside Geoff Ndoria came off the bench to provide a much-needed spark. Ndoria posted eight kills, hitting .636 while only playing in three sets.
New Paltz will continue to battle in the competitive UVC. At the beginning of their season they tested themselves against some top ten opponents. They play their best volleyball towards the end of the season to earn a NCAA playoff berth. Wentworth looks to bounce back from this loss and continue to dominate Great Northeast conference play.
Wentworth:
Volleyball History:
- Since 2016 Wentworth has five GNAC conference championships (out of a possible 7 because of 2 cancelled covid years).
- Been to the NCAA tournament six times and have never lost a first round match.
- Advanced to the final four twice, 2017 and 2022.
- Members of the GNAC- Great Northeast Athletic Conference. They are an affiliate member as the rest of our sports are in the CoNE- Conference of New England. There are only 4 teams from the CoNE that have men’s volleyball currently: Wentworth, Endicott, Nichols and Curry.
Notable Alumni: Collin Ritter, Connor Adams, Brandon Dunz and Peter Klembczyk. Jacob Labouliere, who was the 2024 national player of the year, currently has a few options should he choose to continue his volleyball career professionally. One of those options is to train with the USA beach national team.
- Since 2016 they have had 16 All-Americans. Been AVCA ranked nationally every year for the last eight seasons. In 2024 they were number one in the country for 10 straight weeks.
- Coach Giglio has two AVCA region coach of the year awards (’21, ’24).
- Wentworth over 50 all conference selections during that time with multiple major award winners. The team is currently represented by 14 different states and the ’25 class expands that with additions from Utah, South Carolina and Delaware.
Making an impact on the community:
The athletic department partners with Special Olympics. Volleyball has recently become involved with the Boston Centers for Youth & Families. They’re looking to integrate volleyball as an offering in their centers and Coach Giglio will help lead the clinics along with athletes.
They referee local AAU tournaments. There’s a shortage of refs nationally and this gives the athletes an opportunity to give back to the volleyball community, fundraise and have a deeper appreciation for being a ref.
Academics:
Wentworth Institute of Technology is a private institution with 4,000 undergrad students located in the Fenway area of Boston, Massachusetts.
They offer 26 undergraduate majors with a focus on Engineering, Architecture/Design, Computer Science, Construction Management and Business.
Consistently ranked both nationally and regionally among “Best Colleges” by US News & World Report. Our Construction Management program specifically is ranked in the top 5 nationally by numerous outlets. A unique aspect about their curriculum is we’re a co-op school. Students are required to work two full-time, paid jobs in the field as a requirement of graduation. This affords them the opportunity to get first-hand job experience before they graduate. Many of our athletes have job offers in hand before they even graduate because of their success with Co-op.
New Paltz:
Volleyball History:
- Three-time UVC champions, four-time NCAA semifinals, three-time NCAA finalists, and two time NCAA Champs.
- Radu Petrus has been the head coach for the last 19 years and the winningest coach to date. Petrus is a two-time UVC Coach of the Year, 2016 AVCA National Coach of the Year, and two-time National Champion.
- Assistant coach Tony Bonilla has been with coach Petrus for the last 12 years. He served as the head coach from 1988-95, and 1997-00. Bonila played for the program from 1984-87, was inducted into the SUNY New Paltz Athletics HOF in 2002.
Notable Alumni: Christian Smith, Steven Husmann, Matthew Grace, Pat Wing, Aaron Carrk, Nick Smith, and Tim Ferriter.
Academics:
- Public school, New York State Institution and enrollment is over 7,000 students.
- Nearly 100 undergraduate majors include College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Education, School of Fine and Performing Arts, and School of Science and Engineering.
Kevin Pratte has enthusiastically been involved in volleyball for over 23 years. Pratte started playing in middle school and was fortunate enough to play NCAA Division 1 volleyball at The University of the Pacific. After his playing career Pratte got involved in coaching volleyball. In 2009 Pratte was the graduate assistant coach for the University of Nebraska women’s volleyball program. Later in his career Pratte made coaching stops at University of the Pacific, multiple community colleges and coached at WAVE Volleyball Club for seven years. Currently Pratte is a physical education teacher in the San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary member, a college volleyball recruiting coordinator, hosts a volleyball podcast show, the owner of the Middle Hitter website and runs a non-profit organization to help raise funds to give boys’ high school volleyball students scholarships to play club volleyball. He is excited to continue writing for Volleyball Magazine and is eager to cover the game.
Foundation website: www.kevinprattefoundation.com
Middle Hitter Website: www.middlehitter.com
KP HERE Podcast: Spotify
