Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team won both United Volleyball Conference (UVC) contests on Sunday at the Hawk Center against No. 11 Elmira (W, 3-0) and Bard (W, 3-0) to clinch the No. 2 seed in the upcoming UVC Tournament from April 10-12.
 
The Hawks have now won 15-straight matches and improve to 21-3 overall, 7-1 in the UVC. New Paltz will host No. 10 Baruch on Wednesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. Elmira, who also defeated Bard 3-0 this afternoon, moves to 18-12, 4-4 UVC and hosts a home tournament on April 3-4 with Baruch, D'Youville, UC-Santa Cruz and Nazareth. Bard falls to 8-18, 0-7 UVC and plays at Vassar on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
No. 3 New Paltz 3, No. 11 Elmira 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-20)
 
In the marquee match of the day, the Hawks easily handled the Soaring Eagles, winning 3-0, in a battle of two nationally ranked programs.
 
New Paltz hit .355 (33-11-62) for the match and limited Elmira to a negative hitting percentage (-.057). Freshman Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) tallied a match-high six kills and chipped in three digs as six players finished with at least four kills for the Hawks.
 
Junior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham), sophomore middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Masspequa), senior setter John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) and junior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) all recorded five kills apiece while junior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) notched four.
 
Smith distributed a match-high 11 assists with Lutjen and senior defensive specialist Misa Garo (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) combining for 12 assists.
 
Lutjen found the floor for a match-high three service aces and junior libero Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) led the way defensively with a match-high seven digs. For the Soaring Eagles, junior outside hitter Mike Ellison notched five kills and four digs while senior libero Evan Clarke dished out 10 assists.
 
The opening set was close to start off but the Hawks started pulling away and went ahead 9-5 after a kill by Husmann, which prompted Elmira to call a timeout. Out of the break, New Paltz kept rattling off points as Woessner found the hardwood for a pair of kills and Lutjen notched an ace to give the Hawks a 15-9 lead. An ace by Woessner and three attacking errors by Elmira handed New Paltz a comfortable 24-15 lead and Lutjen finished off the first contest with a kill.
 
The second set was a bit closer than the opener and went back-and-forth with the contest tied at 12-12. From that moment, however, the Hawks went on a 7-1 run, scoring points on four-straight Bonilla serves to go ahead 19-13. Elmira could not get closer than five points for the rest of the set and New Paltz closed it out by enjoying a service error and attacking miscue by the Soaring Eagles.
 
Elmira did not want to go down without a fight in set number three and went ahead 11-9. But the Hawks battled back and gained a 15-14 edge following two more attacking errors by the Soaring Eagles. The set was 19-18 in favor of New Paltz when Woesnner received the serve and gained three straight points for the Hawks to go up 23-18. Elmira closed to within three (23-20) but New Paltz sealed the straight-set win on a kill by freshman setter Mitchell Kennedy (Penfield, N.Y./Fairport).
 
No. 3 New Paltz 3, Bard 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-15)
 
New Paltz wrapped up Sunday by sweeping the Raptors in straight sets and in the process, clinched the No. 2 seed in the UVC playoff bracket, earning a first-round bye.
 
The Hawks hit .603 (44-6-63) and found the floor for 10 service aces against Bard. The statistics were well distributed throughout the lineup with seven players registering at least four kills. Kennedy and freshman middle blocker Ryan Cole (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) both tallied eight kills apiece with Kennedy hitting .889 (8-0-9) and Cole recording a .778 (8-1-9) mark. Kennedy also dished out a match-high 27 assists with Cole notching five digs, three aces and three blocks.
 
Freshman middle blocker Nick Denoncourt (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) was perfect six-of-six on attack attempts while Garo and freshman outside hitter Yorman Escobar (Sunnyside, N.Y./Aviation) both tallied five kills apiece. Junior defensive specialist Chris Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) and freshman outside hitter Ben Cohen (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) enjoyed four-kill performances and sophomore libero Steve Gassert (Bellmore, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) provided the defense with a match-high seven digs.
 
In set one, New Paltz hit .500 and really turned the offense up in the second and third sets, hitting .650 and .684, respectively. In the opening set, the Hawks jumped out to an 11-7 lead following a pair of kills by Cohen. Bard whittled the lead down to two (13-11) after a 4-0 run but New Paltz closed out the contest on a 12-7 run with kills by freshman outside hitter Joe Fazio (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), Garo, Cole and Kennedy during this stretch.
 
Bard enjoyed an early advantage in set number two, putting the Hawks in a 7-4 hole. But New Paltz regrouped and reclaimed a 12-11 lead, going on an 8-4 run. New Paltz started to pull away following a kill and an ace by Cole, seizing a 20-14 edge. The Raptors inched within four (21-17) but a pair of kills by Lilley and the set-clinching kill by Escobar handed the Hawks a 2-0 cushion.
 
Cole began set three with the serve and quickly gave the Hawks a 5-0 lead, finding the floor for two aces during this run. The New Paltz advantage rose to 12-4, which forced Bard to call a timeout and talk things over. But the Hawks were too strong for the Raptors and ended the match with kills from senior outside hitter Gus Gregory (Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas), Lilley, Cole and Escobar.