NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The Devils dropped their opening match to New Paltz, 3-2, at the New Paltz Invitational on Friday. They defeated Johnson and Wales, 3-0, in the nightcap.

New Paltz (8-4) took the fifth set 15-13 to clinch a nail-biting victory that paired two of the SUNYAC's top programs in a non-conference matchup. The Devils held their biggest lead, 8-3, early in the fifth set, only to see the Hawks come back.

The Devils had won the first and third sets, 25-21 and 25-17. New Paltz won the second and fourth sets, 25-18 and 26-24, to set up the showdown in the final set.

Kaitlin Orcutt (Hamburg/West Seneca West) led the Devils with 16 kills. Chelsea Senn (Hamburg/Frontier) had 12 kills and three blocks. Kaitlin Erdmann (Randolph/Randolph) had 10 kills. Brittany Lis (Lancaster/Lancaster) had 51 assists.

Defensively, Sarah Zureck (Lancaster/St. Mary's) had 27 digs, and Jenna Tatu (Tonawanda/Kenmore West) had 21. 

Against J&W, Senn paced the Devils with 8 kills. Orcutt and Tatu had 7 apiece. Lis added 26 assists to her totals, and added a pair of aces and a team-high 11 digs. Zureck had 5 aces and 10 digs.

The Devils (7-5) take on Mt. St. Mary's and Clarkson on Saturday.