Box Score Union, NJ — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA Division III National Championship.
 
The Hawks (27-7 overall) first needed to de-throne the defending champions in No. 1 nationally ranked Springfield College (27-3) — a team they hadn't beaten since their last national title in 2016. SUNY New Paltz played the Pride twice this season, falling 3-1 on both occasions, but on Friday at Kean University in the national semifinal, the Hawks were the team to come out as the 3-1 winner, eliminating the Pride in four sets, 23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22.
 
"It feels awesome, because we haven't beat them since the three years I have been here," said SUNY New Paltz junior outside hitter Aaron Carrk. "Nick [Smith] is the only one on the team that has beat them, so it feels real good to de-throne that team, the defending national champions and this team is just so excited to play tomorrow."

SUNY New Paltz got out to an early 2-0 lead to start the game but Springfield answered with a 5-0 run, which the Hawks fought the entirety of the set to recover from.  They tied the set three times at 17, 18 and 23-all, but never could get out in front and ultimately lost the first frame, 25-23.
 
Although the Pride took the first set, the Hawks snatched back momentum in the second and rolled to three-straight set victories to take the win.
 
"We both weren't doing anything special," said SUNY New Paltz senior outside hitter Nick Smith. "We both were missing serves. We just stayed composed and won the next set."
 
The second started back-and-forth with each team trading points. With the scored tied at 13, Carrk delivered a kill to push his team ahead and from that point on, the Hawks never gave back the advantage.
 
A service error by Carrk got the Pride within one at 15-14, but he made up for the play on the very next point. On a long rally, Carrk made a diving attempt on a tip by Springfield to keep the play alive, which resulted in a set by Matthew Grace and kill by Smith to reestablish the Hawks' two-point cushion. Fired up, SUNY New Paltz added on on the next play, going back to Carrk offensively who smashed down a kill to force a Pride timeout.
 
Springfield earned back a point following the deliberation, but the Hawks proceeded to go on a 4-0 run, which helped put away the set. Although the Pride fought to get within three, Carrk fittingly sealed the second-set victory with a kill on a Springfield blocking error.
 
"I just knew I wasn't going to be the reason why we didn't win this game," Carrk said. "I was going to put everything I had and everything on the line to win. I wanted to make sure that we did win and I trusted my teammates to feel the same exact way."
 
Smith was the difference maker early in the third, helping his team get out in front with Grace pushing the opening cushion to 7-4 with an ace. The Pride couldn't dig the serve, as the attempt flied off the big-board on the back wall for the SUNY New Paltz point.
 
At 6-foot, 7-inches, junior middle blocker Nick O'Malley was subbed in and took over for the Hawks. O'Malley's presence in the front row was critical, gaining a kill and then forcing an errant attempt by Springfield to help SUNY New Paltz flex its advantage to 17-12, forcing a Pride timeout. O'Malley got in on the action again to boost the advantage to 20-13.

Robert Nolan made a great attempt on a one armed dig to keep the play alive, leading to a set by O'Malley to Carrk for the kill.
 
"Nick O'Malley is like our secret weapon," Smith said. "He definitely gives us energy. He's 6-foot, 7, the highest jumper on the team. He's incredible. It just opens up for me, Aaron and Brad [Schneider] on the pins."
 
SUNY New Paltz then rolled to a 25-16 victory after Bradley Schneider put the finishing touches on a long rally, giving the Hawks a 2-1 set advantage.
 
Back-to-back blocks by Grace and O'Malley quickly put SUNY New Paltz in front to open up the fourth. Springfield stayed close, but never grabbed back the lead.
 
The Pride kept misfiring on attacking attempts and service errors, aiding in a Hawks 10-6 advantage to force a timeout from the defending champions. Springfield scored three-straight points to rally within two points midway through the fourth at 14-12, forcing Petrus to call a timeout of his own and regroup his team.

"I don't remember specifically the set, but a lot of our timeouts [we talk about] keeping our composure and make sure we're doing the right things," Carrk said. "Make sure we're making the right moves, don't do anything crazy and just stick to the game plan."
 
That's all SUNY New Paltz needed, as O'Malley re-entered the game and put down a kill to boost his team's cushion back to two. After a service error by the Hawks, Tevin Skeete got in on the action, also tallying a kill to regain the two-point cushion. Grace set Skeete again and the results were the same with the Pride unable to defend the powerful spike, as the lead was pushed to 17-14.
 
Springfield got within one two more times down the stretch, but at 20-19, the Hawks produced three-straight points thanks to Carrk on back-to-back plays, and O'Malley to be just three points away from a win. At 23-21, O'Malley made sure to get his team to match point after slamming down a kill and Carrk then officially solidified his team's ticket into the National Championship. Grace put up the set and Carrk hammered the game winning kill for the, 25-22 victory.

Grace finished with 49 assists to lead his team, while Carrk registered a team-high 18 kills with a .438 hitting percentage. Smith followed with 16 kills and hit .257, while O'Malley registered 10 kills, four blocks with a .412 hitting percentage.
 
"I think we've been peaking at the right time," Smith said. "We're bonded together as a team very strongly and everything is coming together."
 
SUNY New Paltz is a win away from clinching its second National Championship. It will play UC Santa Cruz, which defeated United Volleyball Conference rival Stevens in the other semifinal, for the Division III men's volleyball title Saturday at Kean University at 6 p.m.

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