Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After leading, 2-1, at the end of three sets, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team (12-9, 6-5 UVC) was unable to close out fifth-ranked New York University (19-6, 11-0 UVC), as the Violets won, 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 25-12, 15-13), in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) finale for both teams on Wednesday night at the Hawk Center. NYU finished out conference play undefeated and will serve as host to the 2012 UVC Tournament.

The Hawks earned the No. 7 seed into the UVC Tournament and will face the second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, April 14, at 3:15 p.m. The event runs from April 14-15 at NYU, and the tournament champion will earn the UVC's automatic-qualifying bid into the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament. 2012 marks the first year that NCAA Division III will sponsor a postseason tournament in men's volleyball.

New Paltz was marred at times by a stagnant offense, which hit -.040 in the fourth set. However, the Hawks hit a respectable .290 for the match, which was only slightly behind NYU's .329 hitting percentage. The Violets showed why they are one of the nation's best teams, as they hit .529 with no attack errors in the fifth set to secure the win. The Hawks had 12 total team blocks to the Violets' 11, but NYU came up with 53 digs to New Paltz's 47.

The first set foreshadowed the back-and-forth nature of the match, as neither team was able to lead by more than two points after New Paltz took a 5-2 edge. With the score tied at 21 apiece, a bad set by the Hawks and a service ace by Conor Mortland gave NYU a 23-21 advantage. Patrick Dodd floored back-to-back kills to close the stanza, and the Violets took an early 1-0 lead.

Set two featured much of the same, as the two sides were deadlocked at 24 to force the score to go past 25. An attack error gave the Violets an opportunity to land match point, as they served with a 25-24 advantage. NYU misfired on a serve to bring the ball back to New Paltz, and the Violets ended the set with a pair of attack errors to tie the score at 1-all heading into the third frame.

New Paltz dictated the tempo throughout most of the third set, as it never trailed. Up by just one point at 23-22, sophomore outside hitter Brian O'Connor (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) landed a kill, and sophomore setter Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) registered the set point with a service ace. With that win in the third, the Hawks needed to prevail in just one more set to come away with the upset win.

The Hawks were overwhelmed in the fourth stanza, as NYU led comfortably throughout to cruise to a 25-12 set win. That set the stage for a deciding game, and the Violets were awarded the opening serve.

With the scored tied at 2-all in the fifth, sophomore outside hitters Victor Tuminelli (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) and Brian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) posted back-to-back kills to give New Paltz a 4-2 cushion, but two unforced errors tied the score at four apiece. Senior opposite Mike Van Tyne (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) and Garo each had a kill to push the lead back out to two, and following an NYU kill, sophomore middle blocker Dylan Rabidoux (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) scored a point off a kill to push the edge back out to two at 7-5. The turning point of the match came during the next three points, as the Violets seized the lead at the turn. New Paltz was playing from behind from that point forward, and the NYU attack continued to click on all cylinders to hand the visiting team the hard-fought victory.

Van Tyne led the way offensively for New Paltz with 18 kills, while Tuminelli and O'Connor added 12 kills apiece. While Smith got the start at setter, Garo ended up taking over and handed out a team-high 46 assists. Senior libero Michael Dauernheim (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) had an outstanding contest on defense, fueling the back row with a match-high 14 digs. O'Connor reinforced the front row with a match-high seven block assists.

For NYU, Patrick Dodd floored 22 kills, a match-high, while Nicholas Capriccio hit .593 (18-2-27). Connor Mortland doled out 55 assists and led the squad in digs with 11, while Matthew Coghlan tacked on 10 digs. Capriccio was busy off the block, collecting six total blocks (two solo, four assist).

New Paltz looks to right the ship this weekend, as it travels across the Hudson River to the campus of Vassar College for the Vassar Tournament. The Hawks will square off with No. 3 Springfield College and Newbury College at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, on Friday, March 30, before meeting up with Lancaster Bible College and No. 15 Baruch College at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, March 31.