NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - The Arcadia University men's volleyball team competed in its fourth tri-match in as many weekends Saturday at third-ranked SUNY New Paltz, as the Knights picked up a straight-sets victory over Nazareth to begin the afternoon before falling to the No. 3 Hawks in the nightcap, 3-1.

ARCADIA 3, NAZARETH 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Trailing by two in the first set, the Knights took seven of the next nine points to take a 10-7 advantage on the strength of a pair of kills each from Austin Braas and Quinn Baily. Braas and Baily went on to log three more kills each down the stretch, leading Arcadia to a 25-15 first-set victory.

-Nazareth hung around in the second set but Arcadia held the advantage throughout the set before earning seven of the final eight points of the set powered by a Dan Paraskevov kill and a flurry of Golden Flyer errors as the Knights took a 25-16 victory.

-The Knights needed 34 points in the third set to finish off the straight-sets victory, as a Paraskevov kill with Arcadia trailing 24-23 kept them in it before the two sides alternated the next 13 points, arriving at a 31-all tie. Following an Arcadia service error, the Knights forced two attack errors to take the set, 34-32, and the match, 3-0.

KNIGHT LEADERS
-Kills: Baily 12, Braas 8
-Aces: Baily 4
-Blocks: Moctezuma/Braas 3
-Assists: Devantier 31
-Digs: George 14

TEAM COMPARISON
-The Knights held the edge in kills, 37-32.
-Nazareth led the match with seven service aces, but Arcadia countered with a 10-3 advantage in blocks.
-Arcadia finished the match with a .354 hitting percentage opposite Nazareth's mark of .083.

#3 SUNY NEW PALTZ 3, ARCADIA 1
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Knights and Hawks played a tightly-contested first set to open play as neither side was able to take a commanding lead. With the Knights leading 16-13 following a Jarod Pichler kill, New Paltz regained the lead with four-straight points. Arcadia battled back to retake a 21-20 lead with a 4-2 run including a Brass kill and block and capped off by a Robie Moctezuma and Baily block assist, but the Hawks went on to take five of the final seven points for the 25-23 victory.

-Arcadia answered right back to even the match with a 25-23 second-set victory. The Knights never trailed in the set, as Paraskevov, Pichler, and Baily each tallied four kills in the second.

-The Knights got out to a fast start in the third, staking themselves to a 12-7 lead with kills from Baily and Pichler. The Hawks answered with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 13-all before going on to take a 20-16 lead in the latter stages. Kills from Moctezuma and Pichler got the Knights within two, but two Braas kills were not enough to draw back even as the Hawks took the third, 25-22.

-The Knights trailed by just two, 15-13, in the middle stages of a pivotal fourth set, but a 10-3 Hawk run to the end of fourth ultimately downed Arcadia, 26-16.

KNIGHT LEADERS
-Kills: Paraskevov 13, Baily 10
-Aces: Baily/Zimmerman
-Blocks: Moctezuma 3, Baily/Braas 2
-Assists: Devantier 34
-Digs: Baily/George/Paraskevov 9

TEAM COMPARISON
-New Paltz held the edge in kills, 57-41, and aces, 6-2.
-Each side finished the match with seven blocks each.
-New Paltz led the match with a .298 hitting percentage while the Knights posted a .147 mark.

UP NEXT
Arcadia (8-6) returns to MAC action Wednesday at No. 5 Stevens at 7 p.m.