Box Score Caldwell, N.J. — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team (24-7, 8-1 UVC) won the United Volleyball Conference championship Sunday against top seeded Stevens Institute of Technology (27-5, 8-1), automatically booking its spot in the NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament.
 
The Hawks (24-7 overall) put on an overall phenomenal display, demonstrating time and time again they were ready for any adversity coming their way, as they beat the Ducks (27-5) for the first time this season when it counted most, winning the championship, 3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 14-25, 27-25).
 
"It feels amazing. All the hard work this team has put in together, the ups and downs we've experienced," said Hawks junior outside hitter Aaron Carrk. "We really feel like we finally rose to the occasion and got the job done." 
 
SUNY New Paltz started out on fire, immediately stretched out to a 16-9 lead as the Ducks made some mistakes of their own. However, Stevens countered with a four-point run thanks to a service error by the Hawks to cut the score, 17-12. Stevens followed up with another four-point run fueled by errors from SUNY New Paltz. A kill by the Ducks cut the deficit to one at 19-18, but the Hawks were determined not to make their lead go to waste.
 
SUNY New Paltz came out of a timeout focused, and put together a three-point run to force Stevens to call a timeout. Hawks captain Bradley Schneider then made the biggest play of the set with a winning block to give the Hawks the first set victory.
 
The second set was a nail-biter all the way. Neither team could get a big lead, with the advantage changing hands throughout the set, as the two teams responded to each run with an unanswered offensive stretch of their own to keep the set even.
 
Schneider tied the score at 13 with a sweet little dink over an attempted block by Stevens. Again the captain put the Hawks up, 24-23, but the Ducks answered with a kill to tie the score.
 
Senior outside hitter Nick Smith put SUNY New Paltz on his back, giving his team the lead before freshman John Ronan came up clutch with a block to give the Hawks the set at 26-24 and a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set didn't go SUNY New Paltz's way, as Stevens took a 10-6 lead. The Ducks then went on a four-point run thanks to a service error and three attack errors by the Hawks to boost the advantage to 21-13 for the hosting team, as they closed the set, 25-14.
 
The final set started well for the SUNY New Paltz, as freshman defensive specialist Dan LaRosa served consecutive aces to take a 10-8 lead. The teams then exchanged service errors to set the score at 16-14. The set was tied again late at 24 thanks to a service error by Stevens, but Carrk served the ball into the net to make the score, 25-24, setting up set-point for the Ducks. 
 
The two Hawks captains, Matthew Grace and Schneider came up big, combining to knot the score once more at 25, before junior middle blocker Tevin Skeete took over with two huge blocks to win the UVC championship for his team, 27-25.
 
"I am happy for our players and also for our supporters," said SUNY New Paltz coach Radu Petrus. "They work very hard in practice. To win UVCs is not at all easy. It's one of the top conferences in Division III men's volleyball."
 
Smith was named the UVC Tournament MVP, as he showed all of his skillset in the final, with a .357 hitting percentage to go along with a team-high 19 kills in the championship match.
 
Schneider added 14 kills in his final UVC match, with a .321 hitting percentage, to which he added three aces and an impressive eight blocks. Carrk slammed down 13 kills, while Skeete had a game-high nine blocks, critical to the Hawks' success as they had to combat a lot of unforced errors. Grace also played incredibly well, tallying a game-high 52 assists, and showing up when it mattered the most.
 
The support from the three SUNY New Paltz outside hitters was very important in the victory, as Stevens' junior David Lehman was the only player for the Ducks in double figures, with 19 kills.
 
SUNY New Paltz committed 23 service errors, something Petrus always stresses his team needs to work on, with nerves certainly playing a part. The Hawks didn't execute on that end but thanks to their grit, hard work and great defense they were able to achieve the outcome they wanted.
 
"With the service errors we just had to keep pushing," said Carrk. "If it wasn't happening in the serve we needed to figure out a way to make up for it and fortunately we did."
 
The victory gives the Hawks an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, with the first round scheduled to begin April 21.

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