Box Score HOBOKEN, N.J. – Despite falling behind 2-0 to No. 6 Nazareth on Saturday afternoon in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Semifinals, the No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team regrouped and rallied for a come-from-behind instant classic 3-2 win (19-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13) over the Golden Flyers to advance to the UVC Championship match on Sunday against host Stevens.
In what certainly was a significant match in terms of NCAA Division III Tournament seeding, the Hawks responded with a vengeance after dropping the first two sets to advance to the title match versus No. 1 Stevens tomorrow at 2 p.m.
New Paltz improves to 26-4 overall while Nazareth moves to 27-6 overall. Both teams were battling for an at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament, which runs from April 24-26 at Stevens as the winner of the UVC Tournament receives an automatic bid.
Junior middle blocker
Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), who was named UVC First Team, led the attack with a .476 hitting percentage (14-4-21) and also added six block assists to his performance. Junior setter and fellow UVC First-Teamer
Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) proved nine kills, 25 assists, four digs and two block assists.
Senior setter
John Lutjen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown) nearly missed a triple-double, adding nine kills, 26 assists, nine digs and five block assists as well as the match-clinching ace in the fifth and final set. Junior outside hitter
Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) provided eight kills, four digs and three aces.
Freshman outside hitter
Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) and Second Team All-UVC sophomore middle blocker
Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) added seven and six kills, respectively.
In the opening set, the Hawks never gained the lead despite knotting the contest at 18 on a Husmann ace. But from this moment, Nazareth gathered themselves and went on a 7-1 run to close out the first set, enjoying four errors by the Hawks.
In the second set, New Paltz went ahead 1-0 on a Woessner kill but surrendered the serve back to the Golden Flyers and regained the lead, 20-19, on a kill by Lutjen. Following a Nazareth timeout, the set went back-and-forth and ended up being tied at 23. Looking to bring back momentum, the Hawks were plagued by two straight attacking errors, which handed the decision to Nazareth.
With their backs against the wall in the third set, New Paltz and Nazareth continued the epic battle and at one point the Hawks fell behind 11-9. However, the Blue and Orange would not quit and rallied with a 6-0 run, scoring points on two Fishman aces at the end of the spurt, to go ahead 15-11.
The Golden Flyers inched to within 16-15 but the Hawks were able to win the third set, enjoying kills by Smith, Woessner, Husmann and Bonilla to stay alive to force a fourth duel.
Neither team wanted to back down in the fourth set as the lead never grew to more than three points on either side until New Paltz earned a 16-12 edge when Woessner found the floor with an ace. Two straight kills by Husmann handed the Hawks a 20-15 advantage and the Blue and Orange closed out the set enjoying a service error by Nazareth to knot the match at 2-2.
With everything on the line in the fifth and final set, New Paltz quickly earned a 7-5 lead, scoring points on four-straight Bonilla serves. After going ahead 10-6, the Golden Flyers battled back to knot the set at 13-13. The Hawks decided to take a timeout and followed the break earning a point on a service error by Nazareth. Lutjen then calmly earned the serve and found the hardwood to clinch the come-from-behind victory for the Hawks.
For Nazareth, Tim Zyburt finished with 16 kills while Chris Mahan tallied 13 kills. Jake Kemp orchestrated the offense with a match-high 44 assists.
