Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Looking for back-to-back United Volleyball Conference (UVC) titles, the No. 4 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team fell just short on Saturday, dropping a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 27-25, 15-9) decision to No. 10 NYU in the finals held at Vassar College.

The No. 4-seeded Hawks now sit at 24-8 overall and will await their fate in the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament, with the selection show on Monday. The No. 2-seeded Violets, meanwhile, move to 18-9 overall, winning their first-ever UVC title and the automatic bid into the tourney.

Despite winning the first set, 25-20, the Hawks allowed NYU to take the next two, falling 25-23 and 26-24 to trail 2-1. New Paltz won a tightly contested fourth set, 27-25, but ran out of steam in the fifth, losing 15-9.

Overall, both senior Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and junior Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) floored 18 kills apiece to led the New Paltz attack. Roessler provided four digs while Bonilla registered five digs, three aces and two block assists.

Freshman Nick O'Malley (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow), sophomore Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) and senior Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) tallied nine, eight and seven kills, respectively. Freshman setter Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) distributed a career-high 56 assists and notched eight digs.

Both Roessler and Woessner were named to the 2017 UVC All-Tournament team following the event.

In the first set, New Paltz jumped out of the gates and claimed an 11-7 lead. NYU never led during the opening stanza as the Hawks won 25-20.

NYU adjusted in the second set, taking an 11-7 led of their own. Trailing 22-18, the Hawks battled back and tied the set at 22-all thanks to kills by Roessler, Schneider and Woessner. However, the Violets held on to tie the match at 1-1.

The Violets stormed to a 10-3 lead in the third set before two nice rallies from New Paltz tied the set at 16-16. Following a Bonilla kill, the Hawks grabbed a slim 21-20 edge but the Violets outscored New Paltz 6-3 the rest of the way to go up 2-1.

With their backs against the wall, the Hawks were in danger of going down in four, trailing 24-23. But New Paltz enjoyed a 4-1 spurt to take set number four, 27-25, using kills by Bonilla and Roessler and a set-clinching ace by Bonilla.

Headed to the fifth and final set for all the marbles, NYU burst to a 12-7 lead and scored the final three points of the contest to claim the UVC crown.