LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's volleyball team faced another nationally-ranked opponent at home in #4 SUNY-New Paltz, and despite falling in three sets, hung around in the final two sets, losing each by just two points.

New Paltz, one of the top hitting teams in the nation, broke a 5-5 tie and slowly pulled away in the opening set. The second set saw Benedictine open an early 3-0 lead. Lewis Stein opened the scoring with a kill to record a side out. A kill from Eric Tarnow made the score 4-1 before a New Paltz rally. Down 7-6, the Eagles logged three consecutive points and continued to lead until five straight from the visitors made the score 21-18. Benedictine led 23-21 and had an opportunity to close out the set following another kill from Tarnow to make the score 24-23, but New Paltz scored four of the final five to take the set.

An ace from Eric Krasich opened the third followed by a Stein kill to hand the Eagles a quick 2-0 lead. New Paltz (13-3) scored five of the next seven and used a stretch of three in a row to open a 9-6 lead. Benedictine did not lead again in the set, but tallied five straight late to even the score at 20-20.

The Eagles put forth a balanced team effort, led by eight kills from Tarnow. John Mathews contribued seven. Dan Gibadlo notched two solo blocks along with an assist. Mathews, Ian Thompson, and Markus Riemer added seven digs apiece with Reimer tallying 24 assists. For the match, New Paltz hit .304, notching marks over .400 in the first two sets. Benedictine hit near .400 in the second set but finished the contest at .155.

Benedictine (6-12) travels to Mount St. Joseph on Friday for a conference contest.