New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team lost to Vassar College Sunday in the United Volleyball Conference Championship match in four sets (25-19, 24-26, 21-25, 21-25).
 
SUNY New Paltz (7-4 overall), the reigning UVC and national champions, defeated the Brewers most recently Monday in five sets in Poughkeepsie, NY to earn the top seed in the tournament. But, the Brewers (5-2) got the best of the Hawks in the two program's sixth matchup of the season.

"Each game is different. We didn't change anything [from Monday]," said SUNY New Paltz coach Radu Petrus. "They had different players. They have good starters and good bench players with starting potential, but I can't see anything special [that was different]. [We] weren't in very good shape. I expect more from them. I think is more emotional and after that they were afraid of mistakes and started making more mistakes."
 
The Hawks got out to a hot start in set one, picking up a six-point lead after a kill by Nick O'Malley made the score 17-11 in favor of the hosts. A kill by Matthew Grace and an ace on back-to-back plays, pushed SUNY New Paltz ahead by eight in the set. Eventually O'Malley, who finished the first with five kills, put away the set one victory with a kill at set point. He paced a healthy .273 hitting percentage for his team, which recorded 12 kills in set one.
 

"We were supposed to set [O'Malley] more in the middle, but the problem was with receiving," Petrus said. "The ball didn't come to the setter at the right place and put us out of system that was easy for Vassar to recover and dig the balls."
 
Vassar started gaining momentum in the second period, holding a four-point lead at 18-14 and again at 21-17. The Hawks worked their way back and evened the score, 24-24 following a monster kill by sophomore middle Pat Wing. But, they couldn't build off the play and an attacking error placed the Brewers at set point and then another error on an attack attempt tied the match at a set apiece.
 
The third set mirrored the second, as SUNY New Paltz played catch-up most of the way. It trailed by as many as six midway through the set, but slowly chipped away at the lead. The Hawks cut the deficit to one twice at 19-20 and 20-21, but Vassar never gave up its advantage. A service ace pushed the Brewers ahead at 19-21 and then a kill off a long rally by Joseph Harrington gave them a 22-20 advantage. Andrew Kim added on with a kill to put Vassar two points away from closing out the third. O'Malley responded with a big swing on the outside from an assist by Kyle Shaffer. Vassar picked up the last two points on an attacking error by Spulnick and then an ace by Gavin van Beveren to take a 2-1 lead.

"It happens in volleyball. When you win one set too easy after that you relax a little bit and I think we relaxed a little bit," Petrus said. "We didn't pay attention and Vassar, they brought their confidence in coming over us, and after they played very well. We couldn't stop them."
 
The Brewers were at match point at 24-19 in the fourth. A service error and a block by Grace and Wing prolonged the match, but Kim knocked down a kill for the final point to earn Vassar the win.
 
SUNY New Paltz led in virtually all statistical categories: points (60-53), kills (44-36), blocks (11-8), assists (40-31), digs (35-30) and hitting (.218-.144), but the Brewers held the advantage on serves, totaling nine aces to the Hawks' five, while only having 19 service errors to 25 for the defending champs.
 
O'Malley finished with a game-high 15 kills, wile adding a game-high six blocks. Carrk followed with eight kills on 19 attempts, while adding three blocks and eight digs. Shanley added seven kills on 14 attempts with eight digs defensively. Kyle Shaffer and Tim Drake played extended time, appearing in the last three sets for the Hawks. Shafer did well serving, picking up one ace with no errors, while adding 11 assists. Drake had just one service error and picked up a dig in the game. 

"With Kyle and Tim they did well actually and they were ready to win the game when they were on the court," Petrus said. "I'm happy they'll be good for the future. They did a good job actually."
 
With the win, Vassar earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks will wait until Monday at 10 a.m. to see if their hope of defending their national title is still alive with an at-large bid selection.

"We have a chance," Petrus said. "I don't know what the NCAA will do with this at-large bid. I cannot predict anything. We have a chance, but we have four losses with a very tough season [against] teams in the top-15. I don't know what they are looking for to give a team a chance for an at-large bid. A lot of teams are in the same situation [as we are] with the same overall [record]. I think it will be tough for us, but hopefully we can get it."



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