Box Score NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Committing just 10 hitting errors all match, the No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team played as close to flawless as possible, winning by a 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-17) final over New York University in its final United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match of the season Thursday night at the Hawk Center.
New Paltz clinched a top-three seed in the UVC Tournament, which will be hosted by top-seeded Nazareth College from Saturday-Sunday, April 12-13. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is tied with New Paltz for second in the conference standings, will earn the No. 2 seed if it wins in its UVC finale against the Stevens Institute of Technology, while a loss will give the No. 2 seed to New Paltz.
The Hawks hit .458 in the first set and rode that momentum en route to a scorching .403 hitting percentage for the contest. NYU was limited to -.017 hitting for the match, and New Paltz floored a total of 11 service aces across the three sets. The Hawks also finished with a 10-3 edge in total team blocks.
New Paltz rises to 20-3 overall and 8-2 in the UVC. The Hawks have a two-week break from competition before facing Hunter College on the road on Wednesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. NYU drops to 12-7 overall and 5-6 in the UVC. The Violets next compete at a tri-match on Saturday, March 15, against a pair of NCAA Division I teams: Princeton University and Rutgers University-Newark.
With NYU up 2-1 in the first set, New Paltz rattled off seven straight points, with a kill by sophomore outside hitter
Tim Ferriter (Rochester, N.Y./West Irondequoit) pushing the Hawk edge to 8-2. The Violets scored consecutive points just twice the entire set, and New Paltz walked away with a 25-14 victory in the first.
The second set started similarly to the first, as seven of the frame's first eight points went to New Paltz, prompting an NYU timeout. The Violets' best run came in a three-point stretch that brought the visitors within five at 11-6. New Paltz, however, continued to pour on the offense, and the Hawks took the second, 25-14.
NYU hung around for a good portion of the third set, pulling within two at 10-8 after a Hawk attacking error. New Paltz, however, scored four straight points, the last of which came off a Ferriter kill, to claim a 14-8 lead. The Violets scored consecutive points just once the rest of the set, as the Hawks won the match-clinching third set, 25-17.
Ferriter led the Hawk attack with 10 kills and a .353 hitting percentage, while junior setter
John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) and sophomore setter
Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) doled out 20 and 14 assists, respectively. Smith and Ferriter also added three service aces, while sophomore middle blocker
Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) paced the front row defensively with five total blocks.
For NYU, freshman outside hitter Chase Klein and sophomore outside hitter Colin LaPorte tallied five kills each, while senior setter Connor Mortland offered up 15 assists. LaPorte accounted for both of the Violets' service aces, while junior libero Andrew Quirk defended a match-high seven digs.
