Box Score
Photo Gallery (Courtesy Springfield College)
Highlights (Courtesy NCAA.com)
Press Conference (Courtesy Springfield College)
Full Replay (Courtesy NCAA.com)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Looking to repeat as NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball champions, the State University of New York at New Paltz fell just short on Sunday, succumbing to host and No. 1 Springfield 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 21-25) in a sold-out Blake Arena.

For the Hawks, they conclude the season at 27-9 overall and 0-3 against the Pride this year. In a roller-coaster type campaign, New Paltz was on the verge on not even making the tournament but earned an at-large bid by the selection committee and played with house money throughout the bracket, collecting wins over Kean, No. 2 Vassar and No. 5 Wentworth en route to today's title game.

In the last four seasons, the senior class of Steven Woessner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa), Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), C.J. Borfitz (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence) and Steve Gassert (Bellmore, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) have put up very impressive numbers and leave their winning legacy with the team.

The quartet helped New Paltz accrue an overall record of 115-21 (.846), a UVC record of 28-6 (.826) with two UVC titles (2014, 2016), four-straight NCAA Semifinal appearances (2014-17) and one NCAA championship (2016) during their careers.

As for the Pride (29-2 overall), the home team collects their 10^th overall national title and fourth in NCAA Division III play since the tournament started in 2012 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2017).

New Paltz came out firing in the first set and clicked on all cylinders, hitting .300 on way to a 25-22 opening stanza victory. However, Springfield regrouped and claimed the next three sets to close out the national title bout.

Offensively, Roessler led the way with 12 kills and junior Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) followed with 11 terminations and eight digs. Sophomore Bradley Schneider (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) tallied eight kills while Woessner and Borfitz both provided seven kills apiece.

Freshman setter Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) distributed 41 assists for New Paltz and freshman libero Robert Nolan (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) collected a match-high 16 digs.

The Hawks were dialed in during the first set, jumping out to an 11-8 lead and used two attacking errors by the Pride to go ahead 14-9. Springfield got within two (16-14) before a kill and ace by Woessner handed the Hawks an 18-14 edge. Executions by Schneider and Borfitz extended the New Paltz lead to 22-18 but the Pride would not go away and came to within one (22-21) until another Woessner kill and two more attacking errors by Springfield handed New Paltz the set one victory.

Set two started in favor of New Paltz as the Hawks led in the early stages, 5-2. Again, the Pride rallied and took a 9-7 lead before New Paltz responded and knotted the contest up at 12-12. Trailing 16-14, the Hawks took advantage of three consecutive Pride errors to go ahead 17-16. Tied at 20-all, Springfield used an attacking and serving error to tie the match at 1-1.

A seesaw battle ensued in the third set with neither team claiming more than a two-point lead until Springfield went ahead, 18-15. Following a kill from Bonilla, the Hawks clawed back to within one, 18-17, but again the Pride countered and bounced up 22-19. Kills from Schneider and Woessner brought the Hawks even closer but still trailed, 23-22, as Springfield was able to take control of the match, going up 2-1.

Much like the third set, stanza number four was tight with Springfield going up 10-8 before a 3-0 spurt by New Paltz off three Pride attacking errors gave the Hawks an 11-10 lead, forcing Springfield to call timeout.

Out of the break, the Pride regained the lead 16-13 and later 21-17. As was the story for the entire season, New Paltz would not go down without a fight and battled until the last whistle. Down to match point, 24-19, kills by Bonilla and Roessler brought the Hawks to within three, 24-21. However, a service into the net handed Springfield the 2017 title and 10^th overall crown.