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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The top-ranked, top seeded State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team will make its debut in the championship round of the NCAA Division III Tournament after beating United Volleyball Conference (UVC) foe and defending champion the No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-18, 25-15), in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Nazareth College's Kidera Gymnasium.
 
The Hawks earn their 31st-straight win and improve to 32-2 overall. New Paltz will face either No. 2 Springfield College in the championship match tomorrow at 2 p.m. Stevens concludes its season at 29-7 overall.
 
The teams opened the first set trading early points until a 5-1 run pushed Stevens ahead, 9-5. The Ducks, however, would not maintain the lead for long as New Paltz rattled off three-straight points to tie the score at 9-all. A back-and-forth battled ensued for possession and the Hawks would come out on top, capitalizing on a Stevens' service error and a kill by senior outside hitter Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, N.Y./Cairo-Durham).
 
Sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) followed up with a service ace to make it a 23-21 match but senior outside hitter Chris Vaughn floored a kill to return the serve to Stevens. New Paltz would take back the ball on a kill by senior middle blocker Christopher Husmann (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) before junior opposite Joe Norman (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) provided the kill for the final 25-22 score.
 
The Ducks seized an early 4-2 lead in the second frame and continued to stay one step ahead, pushing their advantage to 15-11 before the media timeout. New Paltz rallied on two Stevens' errors and a Fishman kill to cut the deficit to 15-14. The Hawks would tie the score at 16-all on a Norman kill and a service ace by senior setter Christian Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa).
 
The teams briefly traded points until Norman floored three kills and an ace to push the Hawks to a 21-19 edge, but Stevens rallied to take back the lead on a New Paltz service error and a kill by Vaughn. The Hawks called a timeout to break up the Ducks' momentum but Stevens would take the win on a block assist by Vaughn and junior middle hitter Jordan Stuart, tying the match at 1-all.
 
The third frame saw the Hawks come out hot out of the gates, collecting the first four points. Stevens tried to catch up but New Paltz served up another four points to take a 9-3 lead as the Ducks called a timeout. Coming out of the break, Stevens dished out three unanswered points to trim the deficit to 9-6 but the Hawks pushed a 3-0 run of its own, extending their lead to 12-6.
 
The Ducks fell further behind as the Hawks pushed ahead, 18-11, on kills by Fishman and Bonilla. Stevens managed to close the gap to 24-18 on a kill by senior outside hitter Tim Ferriter, but a kill by junior middle blocker Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) provided the final 25-18 score, giving New Paltz the upper hand heading into the fourth frame.
 
After a close score early in the final set, New Paltz stormed ahead to a 7-4 lead. Stevens would trail by no more than two points until a 4-0 spurt gave the Hawks a 13-7 advantage. New Paltz pushed its lead to 23-15 before capitalizing on two Stevens attack errors to seal the victory and claim its spot in the championship match.

New Paltz held an 8-3 edge in aces and hit .359 (62-20-117) for the match, Stevens concluded the match with a .225 (47-22-11) clip but held an 11-7 advantage in blocks.
 
Norman keyed the offense, recording 18 kills, two aces and provided two digs for the defense. Fishman chipped in 15 kills and hit .480 (15-3-25), while Woessner concluded the day with a .438 (9-2-16) clip with nine kills. Smith distributed a career-high 55 assists and contributed two service aces, two digs, and three kills. Bonilla defended 11 digs for the Hawks while senior libero Kevin Nardone (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) provided nine digs.
 
For Stevens, Vaughn collected 16 kills and three block assists while Ferriter recorded 15 kills and defended nine digs. Senior setter John Eddins dished out 43 assists in the loss.