NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite holding a 2-0 lead on Senior Night, the No. 2 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team fell to visiting No. 3 Vassar 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 13-25, 15-17) in a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) showdown on Wednesday night in the Hawk Center.

With the defeat, the Hawks fall to 21-5, 4-2 UVC and will prepare to travel to No. 5 Stevens with Nazareth in a UVC tri-match on Saturday, April 1 in Hoboken, N.J. The Brewers improve to 22-6, 6-0 UVC and hold the No. 1 seed in the upcoming UVC playoffs entering the weekend.

Offensively, junior Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) led the Hawks with a match-high16 kills while senior teammates Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence) both tallied 11 kills apiece.

Sophomore Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) floored nine kills (.615) while freshman setter Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) filled the stat sheet with a match-best 41 assists, six digs, two kills, two aces and four total blocks.

Prior to the contest, the four seniors on the Hawks – Roessler, Borfitz, Steve Gassert and Steven Woessner – were honored in a pre-game ceremony for their four years of service to the program.

In their four seasons, these four seniors helped lead the Hawks to 109 victories, two UVC titles (2014, 2016) and one NCAA Division III National Championship (2016).

After winning the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-22, the Brewers seemed to figure out the New Paltz defense and claimed the next two sets in convincing fashion, 25-16 and 25-13 to force the final fifth set in the Hudson River rivalry.