Box Score
Highlights (courtesy Springfield College)
Press Conference (courtesy Springfield College)
Photo Gallery (courtesy Springfield College)
Full Replay (courtesy NCAA.com)
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Trailing 2-1 with their backs against the wall, the No. 4 men's volleyball program at the State University of New York at New Paltz rallied with a fourth-set win and claimed the fifth set against No. 5 Wentworth to advance to the team's second-straight NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball National Championship match on Saturday evening.
New Paltz (27-8) enjoyed a 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12) win over the Leopards and will face host No. 1 Springfield in a repeat of last year's title match in which New Paltz won, 3-1. In two meetings this season, the Hawks are 0-2 against the Pride, taking just one set back on March 1.
Springfield has played in every NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball title match since its inception in 2012. The Pride won in 2012, 2013 and 2014 before falling to Stevens in 2015 and New Paltz just last year in Rochester, N.Y., hosted by Nazareth.
With the defeat, the Wentworth Leopards wrap up their season at 28-7 overall. The Leopards were looking for their first ever appearance in the NCAA Finals and made just their second-ever tournament entrance this season.
Three players enjoyed double-digit kill totals for the Hawks, with senior
Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) flooring a match-high 18 kills on 29 attempts (.517). Classmate
Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) joined with 14 kills, after his 26-kill masterpiece against Vassar yesterday.
Junior
Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) tallied 13 kills and came through when the team need it the most, with the match-winning termination in the fifth set to send New Paltz back to the title bout, looking to hoist the trophy once again. Bonilla also provided eight digs, two aces and two blocks.
Freshman setter
Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) orchestrated the offense with a match-best 53 assists, just three shy of matching his career high. Classmate
Robert Nolan (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) aided the defense with a team-high 10 digs.
Relying on the bench more in this match than ever during the tournament, the Hawks received some solid play and numbers from senior
C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence), freshman
Nick O'Malley (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) and sophomore
Nick Smith (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa).
New Paltz led 14-11 in the first set following a Grace kill and went ahead 20-14 after an ace from junior
Nick Denoncourt (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) and a kill from sophomore
Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport). Executions by Denoncourt and Bonilla handed the Hawks the opener.
Set two was a tale of two runs by both teams. Trailing 11-10, New Paltz countered with a 5-0 run to take a 15-11 lead. However, the Leopards answered right back with an 8-0 spurt of their own to reclaim a 19-15 edge. A late run by the Hawks pulled the Blue & Orange within three (23-20) but Wentworth proved too strong in the second stanza.
In a back-and-forth third set, the Leopards came on top to take a 2-1 lead. Tied at 18-all, Wentworth went on a 4-2 run to take a 22-20 lead. Consecutive kills by Woessner tied the set up at 22 even before a pair of errors down the stretch by New Paltz had the Hawks on the brink of elimination, down 2-1.
In do-or-die mode, the Hawks could not have gotten off to a better start in the fourth period, jumping out to a 9-3 lead following an ace by Bonilla and forcing the Leopards to take a timeout. Wentworth clawed back and got to within two (13-11) and later one (16-15) before three straight attacking errors by the Leopards gave New Paltz a 19-15 advantage. A Woessner kill and several more miscues by Wentworth knotted the match up at 2-2.
In the win-or-go home fifth and final set, both teams were evenly matched and tied at 6-6 before kills from Schneider, Woessner and Borfitz and several more attacking errors by Wentworth gave New Paltz a 10-7 lead. Executions from Bonilla and Roessler increased the edge to 13-10. Leading 14-12 and out of a timeout, Bonilla wound up and spiked the Hawks into their second-straight NCAA title game, winning set five 15-12.
