Box Score Springfield, MA – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team proved that it is once again one of the top teams in the country by upsetting Division I opponent Harvard University in five sets in the opening round of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic at Springfield College. The 14-25, 25-14, 26-24, 19-25, 15-12 victory not only made a statement after the shaky start to the season for the Hawks, but also set up a rematch of last year's national championship match against Springfield Saturday at 8 p.m.
 
Prior to the match SUNY New Paltz coach Radu Petrus told his team there was no special game plan or strategy for them to upend the Division I opponent, but to just think about it as another game and a chance to play well and a chance to win.
 
The Hawks embraced the underdog mentality against the Crimson, but after a lopsided first set loss it looked like Harvard was going to dominate. However, a few early errors by the Crimson and some kills by sophomore middle hitter, Nick O'Malley, SUNY New Paltz jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the second set.

Later in the set, up 13-9, the Hawks made another mini-service run with a Nick Smith ace and the third kill of the set by Aaron Carrk to put SUNY New Paltz up 16-9. The lead was too much for Harvard to mount a comeback against and a Smith kill from sophomore setter Matthew Grace sealed the second set at 25-14.
 
With the match tied at one set a-piece, the Hawks got off to a rocky start following a Carrk missed serve to put them down 3-5 early in the set. At 12-13 it was Bradley Schneider's turn to step for SUNY New Paltz as he rocketed an ace past the Crimson serving line to tie up the set and then Smith and Grace teamed up yet again to give the Hawks a one-point lead.

After more back-and-forth play, back-to-back kills from Schneider pushed the score to 21-19 and then an O'Malley service ace forced a Harvard timeout. SUNY New Paltz found itself with two set points at 24-22, but two errors from the Hawks allowed the Crimson back into the game with the score knotted up at 24 in the pivotal third set. Senior co-captain Ryan Cole put the ball away out of the middle to give the team their third set point, and this time they were able to capitalize off an attack error from Harvard's Erik Johnsson.
 
The Hawks entered the fourth set with a chance to close out the match and midway through the set neither team were able to make a substantial run on their serve to take a lead and the set was tied at 16. However, Harvard made its run and forced a fifth and deciding set.
 
With the final set being played to 15, it was vital not to get down early for the underdog Hawks and they did just that, taking an 8-7 lead halfway through the set.

With the set even at nine, the Crimson were the first to blink as a solo block from Aaron Carrk gave SUNY New Paltz its first two-point advantage of the set. The Hawks held that advantage to 13-11 when an attack error from Harvard's Trevor Dow gave SUNY New Paltz its first match point, and two points later Carrk finished off the upset for the Hawks with a kill from Grace.
 
Grace was the lone setter for the Hawks and posted an astounding 53 assists. Grace's top three targets on the day were Carrk, Smith, and O'Malley, who recorded 16, 14, and 13 kills, respectively. The middles for SUNY New Paltz had an efficient performance, as O'Malley notched a .500 hitting percentage on 20 attempts, while Cole and Tevin Skeete combined for nine kills and one error on 12 attempts.
 
"We still have room for improvement, but we did much better than the last few times out," said Petrus. "We had some great play from the younger guys on our team, which is great for competition on our team and guys fighting for starting spots."
 
The Hawks will face off against tournament host Springfield College in a rematch of last year's national title match on the same court where they fell to the Crimson in four sets less than a year ago. The match will follow the consolation matchup between Harvard University and Stevenson University and is slated for an 8 p.m. start time.