The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team controls their own destiny this weekend as they take on No. 12 Vassar College (14-6) and No. 14 MIT (13-3). The Hawks can clinch the regular season United Volleyball Conference title and host conference playoffs with victories over the Brewers and the Engineers.
 
SUNY New Paltz began their unexpected rise to the top of the conference after falling to Elmira College in five sets to open their UVC schedule. The loss to the Soaring Eagles put the Hawks at 5-4 on the regular season and sparked the decision to change up their lineup and team mentality. SUNY New Paltz is 10-1 since the early season loss and have won six straight in the conference, including their last two wins over No. 10 NYU and No. 3 Stevens.
 
"Our wins against NYU and Stevens were huge," said senior outside hitter Ben Cohen. "I think everybody was walking into the gym the next day with a little more pep in their step and it put us in a great position to host, but we're still hungry."
 
Vassar College and the Hawks have played 52 matches against each other all-time and the Hudson River rivalry is currently split evenly. The Brewers took the regular season matchup last season, but SUNY New Paltz got their vengeance in both the UVC playoffs and the NCAA tournament.
 
The Hawks bring in one of the best offenses in the country, racking up kills at a rate of 12.85 per set, which is currently third in the country. However, Vassar has one of the best weapons in the country in senior Middle Hitter Matthew Knigge. Knigge leads all of Division III in blocks per set at 1.449, and is second in the nation in kills per set at 4.45.
 
Although SUNY New Paltz is coming off one of their best offensive performances of the season with a .410 hitting percentage against Stevens, the Hawks will have to face off against the top block defense in the country. The Brewers lead the country with .267 blocks per set and hold opponents to a .130 hitting percentage. SUNY New Paltz will have to find a way to hit around the big block and still run an effective offense.
 
MIT heads into the weekend needing to pick up a couple of conference wins to keep their playoff hopes alive. Although the Engineers are 13-3 overall, all three losses have come to UVC opponents and they sit one spot outside the playoffs at seventh place. The match against MIT will mark the seventh time of the last nine matches for the Hawks playing a ranked opponent.
 
"The keys to victory against Vassar and MIT are to play to our strategy and serve tough," said Cohen. "We have to keep both of them out of system. Also, we need to serve receive high and get our hitters the ability to have a one-on-one from Matty."
 
Sophomore setter Matthew Grace has been the steady hand of the Hawks offense for the majority of the year and averages 9.60 assists per set. Grace's two top targets are junior outside hitter Nick Smith and senior co-captain Ryan Cole. Smith and Cole are the only two hitters averaging above three kills per set for the Hawks offense. Defensively, sophomore libero Robert Nolan leads the way with 1.97 digs per set.
 
SUNY New Paltz plays Vassar at 4 p.m. on Saturday and MIT at 1 p.m. on Sunday.