Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – Despite leading 22-18 in the first set, the No. 5 State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team fell 3-0 (26-28, 21-25, 14-25) to host No. 1 Springfield on Wednesday night in the second rematch this season of the 2016 Division III National Championship at Blake Arena.
With the defeat, the Hawks conclude the regular season at 22-7 and will now prepare for the 2017 UVC Tournament hosted by No. 1 seed Vassar from April 13-15. New Paltz, the No. 4 seed, will take on No. 5 seed MIT on Thursday, April 13 at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
The Pride, meanwhile, improve to 25-1 and have now won 25 straight matches. Springfield is set to host the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball National Championship from April 28-30. Springfield has gone 2-0 against New Paltz this season, claiming a road win at New Paltz on March 1 (W, 3-1).
Senior middle blocker
Jake Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) led the attack with 11 kills followed by junior outside hitter
Anthony Bonilla (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz), who floored 10 kills. Freshman setter
Matthew Grace (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) distributed 28 assists.
As a team, Springfield hit .424 and had two players finish with double-digit kills in Sean Zuvich (.588) and Luis Vega (.588).
In the opener, the Pride jumped out to a 7-4 lead but the Hawks were able to recover and would claim a 16-14 lead following a Roessler kill. New Paltz then went up 22-18, however, multiple attacking errors by the Hawks let Springfield knot the set at 25-25 to head to extra points.
Despite sitting at set point 26-25 following a Bonilla kill, the Pride were able to close out the set and complete the comeback with three straight points to hand New Paltz the 28-26 defeat.
After giving up the lead in the first set, the wind seemed to have been taken out of the Hawks' sails in the next two sets as New Paltz fell 25-21 and 25-14.
