NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The No. 3 State University of New York at New Paltz will take on No. 5 Kean in the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Quarterfinals on Friday, April 24 at 3 p.m. at Canavan Arena, hosted by Stevens.
RECORDS: New Paltz is 26-5 overall and finished runner-up at the UVC Tournament… Kean is 31-4 overall and won the Skyline Championship.
No. 3 New PaltzNCAA Appearances: 2 (2014, 2015)
NCAA Championships: none
This is the second year in a row the Hawks are headed to the NCAA Tournament and are the number four seed… The Hawks have three All-United Volleyball Conference (UVC) players in junior setter Christain Smith (first team), junior middle hitter
Christopher Husmann (first team), and sophomore middle blocker
Steven Woessner (second team)… New Paltz leads all of Division III in assists per set (12.39) and is second for hitting percentage (.326)… The Hawks are also fourth in Division III for win-loss percentage (.839)… Husmann leads in hitting percentage on the team and in the nation (.480)… Woessner leads the team in service aces (.34 per set) and freshman outside hitter
Anthony Bonilla is second on the team for kills per set (2.38)… Smith is in front of all Hawks for assists (5.52 per set)…The last time these two teams met, senior setter
John Lutjen led the way for the Hawks with eight kills, a match-high .667 hitting percentage, and dished out 15 assists… Both Smith and Husmann recorded eight kills each, while junior libero
Kevin Nardone notched a team-high eight digs… The Hawks are coached by
Radu Petrus, who won the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year Award in 2014.
No. 5 Kean UniversityNCAA Appearances: 3 (2013, 2014, 2015)
NCAA Championships: none
Kean received an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament this year by winning the Skyline Conference Championship and are the No. 5 seed… Junior middle blocker Tommy Rosario led the team and the conference in hitting percentage (.380) and senior outside hitter Bez Arslani was second in the conference in kills (3.84 per set)… Freshman opposite Jacob Kauffman leads the Skyline in service aces (0.65 per set) and senior setter Ron Dunn is ranked second in the conference for assists per set (9.42)… Rosario and senior middle blocker Kyle Farley led the Skyline in blocks, averaging 1.18 and 1.10 per set, respectively… In the last meeting with the Hawks, Dunn led the Cougars with 21 assists and hit .800 on five attempts… Senior libero John Cunningham had eight digs and Arslani claimed eight kills… In the earlier-season match, the Cougars had 29 total kills, eight blocks, and five service aces… The Cougars are coached by Charlie Ginex, who is in his third season as head coach… Ginex has led Kean to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
LAST MEETING: The Hawks defeated then-No. 1 Kean 3-0 when these two teams met earlier this season on March 4, 2015.
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of this match will advance to the NCAA Semifinals and face either No. 1 Stevens or Baruch on Saturday, April 25 at 4 p.m.
