Coming off a junior season where she helped two teams win a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship, Maddie Van Pelt's only focus was repeating that same success during her final season as a Hawk.
 
"I'm still hungry for more," she said last spring. "I want to come back and win another SUNYAC Championship…. This [next] year I think is my most critical year for my athletic career. It would mean the world to show that me and my senior teammates will come out on top."
 
Although the State University of New York at New Paltz women's volleyball team couldn't go back-to-back as SUNYAC champions in the fall, Van Pelt did everything in her power to get her team back on top. 
She had a career year statistically; leading SUNY New Paltz in kills (339), kills per set (3.26), points (377), points per set (3.63), while ranking second in digs (293), third in blocks (36) and hitting .226 on the season. She was later named a First-Team All-SUNYAC selection and was a SUNYAC Player of the Year candidate, while also garnering AVCA All-Region honors.
 
"Her ability to focus on the present moment was the final piece to Maddie breaking out as a top volleyball player," said Hawks women's volleyball coach Matt Giufre. "At the same time, she became more outspoken as a teammate and demanding the same commitment from others… She was a major contributor to our championship her junior year. As a senior, we looked to her now as a full-time go-to player. It was supposed to be the year where she went from mainly an offensive threat to a full game, front and back row player. An early injury threw a wrench into that plan, but once she was healed she impacted the game defensively as much as offensively, really becoming a complete volleyball player."
 
As a freshman, Van Pelt earned playing time right away on both the women's volleyball and basketball programs. She saw action in 63 sets in her first year, helping SUNY New Paltz to a 19-win season, and in the winter played early minutes, despite coming onto the team late due to volleyball season. She was an important contributor during the Hawks' postseason run and claimed what eventually became the first of her four SUNYAC Championship titles.
 
"Truthfully basketball was my "second" sport coming into college," Van Pelt said. "I never expected to have accomplished this much with my team, or individually. Jamie Seward and Matt Guifre are the reasons for my growth as an individual." 
 
Her playing time continued to increase as a sophomore for both programs, but the team's success fell short of expectations. However, it set the table for an illustrious junior campaign for Van Pelt who was a part of two conference championship-winning teams. En route to guiding SUNY New Paltz to its first women's volleyball SUNYAC title since 2014, Van Pelt paced her team in kills (373) and kills per set (3.11). She was recognized as a Second-Team All-SUNYAC recipient and went into the winter hoping to double-down with the women's basketball program.
 
"Maddie was instrumental all four years, likely more than she realizes," Giufre said. "Thinking back to her freshman year, she was more of a role player in and out of the lineup… Even as a role player, Maddie's work ethic and determination to be the best far outweighed everyone else. Others took notice of that and ramped up their efforts as well. She was showing signs of leadership in year one, not realizing yet the impact she was making and the credibility she was establishing for later seasons. Sophomore year the expectations on Maddie increased as more of a regular player to the lineup, but her junior year was her true breakout year. That was the year she finally decided to stop worrying about what could go wrong or trying to make up for a mistake, and instead emphasized making an impact on the present play."
 
Transitioning into basketball season her junior year, she missed just one game due to the Hawks' run in the women's volleyball NCAA Tournament and made 22 starts. She played key minutes in SUNY New Paltz's conference finals game against rival SUNY Geneseo, coming up with timely plays, if that was key baskets, rebounds or assists, she helped her team close the gap in a tight game down the stretch. The Hawks ultimately pulled out the victory and Van Pelt claimed her third SUNYAC Championship, and second in one season — becoming the first Hawk to ever win two SUNYAC titles in a single academic year.
 
"As far as where she stacks up, she put herself right at the top. All of the individual accolades makes that so obvious, but Maddie only cares about the things that actually matter," said SUNY New Paltz women's basketball coach Jamie Seward. "She, along with her classmates, [Philesha Teape, Marion Dietz and Paige Niemeyer] won more games, more conference championships, and more NCAA Tournament games than anyone to ever play here, and I know with 100 percent certainty that she cares much more about that that than any individual accolades."
 
Entering her senior season, Van Pelt was determined for another double championship run starting in the fall. She established herself as arguably the best player in the conference and one of the best in the region. She totaled 13 games where she accumulated double-digit kills and digs, and put up game high in kills 10 times throughout the year. As a team, the Hawks overcame a poor start and led by Van Pelt got into the postseason. Their 2019 campaign ended short of expectations, however, losing in the quarterfinal round in the conference tournament.
 
Despite the team's efforts coming up short, the impact Van Pelt made with her tenacious work ethic and leadership on a team with six newcomers was felt, and Giufre hopes that example leaves an impression in the coming years.

"Maddie showed the underclassmen how to work for something. She showed them what it means to invest your self in something bigger than any individual," Giufre said. "She showed them how to do the right thing all the time and not let anyone around you slack even for a moment. She showed them how to max out what you have to offer. She showed them what true passion, strong morals, and self-discipline can lead to. I just hope they were smart enough to have paid attention."

After a career statistical volleyball season, Van Pelt then transitioned to basketball where she led the team to another conference title. Her drive to win was fueled from a shortened volleyball playoff run, and on a night-by-night basis, she proved to be the best player on the floor.

She again put up career numbers and dominated on the court. She finished the year sixth in the conference in points — with her 369 points scored ranking 11th-most all-time in single season program history — second in steals and top-10 in rebounds, while also totaling 36 assists with 16 blocks on the season. She had arguably her best game on the biggest stage in the SUNYAC Championship game, putting up 25 points and 13 rebounds in a 63-53 win en route to being named SUNYAC Tournament MVP.

"Coach Seward never failed to push me, especially in my last season with him," Van Pelt said. "My junior year he was like, 'Maddie if you can't shoot behind the arc our offense in not going to be as effective.' This past offseason I made sure I increased my distance, because the past three years I was poor from 3-point range. Coach Seward and Coach Guifre made me physically and mentally tough over the years; developing me into something/someone I thrived to be — a confident player and leader. I am just so thankful for having the opportunity to play under both Coach Seward and Coach Guifre."  
Following the season, Van Pelt earned D3Hoops.com All-Region honors, etching her name as one of the few Hawks to be named All-Region in two different sports. She then became just the third women's basketball player to be recognized as an All-American, joining former teammates Lindsay Bettke, Rachel Simon and Kit Small.
 
Her name is written all over the SUNY New Paltz record books as well. For women's volleyball, she ranks eighth in kills (1,115), joining just 10 others in program history to reach the 1,000-career kill mark. She landed sixth all-time in career rebounds (601) with just six others registering 600 or more in their career and is tied for 11th all-time in career blocks in women's basketball history.
 
Additionally, Van Pelt put her self with elite company as she became the seventh Hawk in school history to hoist a team SUNYAC title and be named All-SUNYAC, All-Region and All-American in the same season, joining men's soccer Hall of Famer Gene Ventriglia '65, 2017 field hockey alumna Dani Ackerman, 2016 field hockey alumna Jessica Caruana and former women's basketball teammates Kit Small '17, Rachel Simon '19 and Lindsay Bettke '19. 
 
"Maddie has come an awfully long way, but I also feel like saying that is unfair to how good she was as a freshman. She was a significant contributor as a freshman on a SUNYAC Champion and Sweet 16 team, so she obviously was always a very good basketball player with great instincts and a great understanding of the game," Seward said. "However, through hard work she has grown and added to her skill set each and every year. To be honest I'm not too surprised by her growth. I even told her as a sophomore that I believed she was a better basketball player than volleyball player. In some ways volleyball held her back because basketball is a sport that doesn't really allow for three months away from the game, let alone three months immediately before the season starts and then jump in a month into practice. That being said, at the same time the growth in Maddie as a person and a leader was accelerated by playing volleyball, and playing for such a tremendous coach and leadership mentor that Coach Giufre is. So while it may have held her back from a skill development standpoint, it also made her a much better teammate and leader."
 
As her college volleyball and basketball career comes to an end, Van Pelt established herself as one of the best student-athletes in school history. A true dual sport athlete, who was a three-time All-SUNYAC selection, SUNYAC Tournament MVP, two-time All-Region recipient and All-American, Van Pelt, who will likely see her name in the SUNY New Paltz Athletics Hall of Fame one day, was above all else a winner. She helped the women's volleyball program to 81 wins over the course of her four years, while she, along with her senior basketball teammates, is the winningest player in women's basketball program history with 87 career victories, which goes along with her four SUNYAC titles, 10 NCAA playoff games played and two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.
 
"Growth is the word I would use to describe my journey here at New Paltz," Van Pelt said. "The environment that is fostered in both programs is for players to get better and better and I think I am one of the many players that exhibited this. This is also a tell on to the upperclassmen that took young Maddie under their wing and taught me what it meant to be a New Paltz athlete, Morgan Roessler being one of them. I also want to thank Coach Guifre and Coach Seward for supporting me, believing in me and pushing me to be the best possible athlete that I could be. I consider myself fortunate to be able to learn from both coaches."

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