The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team (6-3 overall, 6-2 UVC) plays in the semifinal round of the United Volleyball Conference against fourth seeded Nazareth College Friday at 4 p.m. If the defending national and UVC champions advance, they will face either No. 2 seed Vassar or No. 3 seed St. John Fisher College in the finals Sunday.
 
The Hawks earned the top seed in the UVC Tournament Monday after an exciting five-set match against the Brewers to win the season series and clinch the regular season title. With the win, SUNY New Paltz has the chance to host the championship round Sunday if Vassar gets passed the Cardinals Friday.
 
"Winning regular season champions for the first time in my career here definitely [is] a great feeling," said Hawks senior middle Nick O'Malley. "It's something new but all of us know we have to keep going forward and make sure nothing is [taken] for granted." 
Prior to its semifinal match, the UVC announced its postseason awards with SUNY New Paltz earning five on the All-UVC team including Player of the Year and Libero of the Year honors for senior setter Matthew Grace and senior libero Robert Nolan, respectively. Grace, junior hitter Brendan Spulnick and O'Malley also received first team honors, while Nolan and senior opposite Aaron Cark received second-team recognition. 
 
SUNY New Paltz overcame some adversity to start the shortened 2021 season, having to play its opening doubleheader against St. John Fisher with key starters out and only 10 active players. The team was again short-handed in its following matchup against Vassar, but managed a split with its UVC rival taking the first — and most important — match, which counted toward conference competition.
 
Seemingly at full strength heading into the postseason, the Hawks are ready to defend their title to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament — a key step in their ultimate goal of boasting back-to-back national titles.
 
Going into the UVC tournament SUNY New Paltz is arguably the most experienced team with 14 players remaining from its 2019 title run, including O'Malley, Grace, Nolan and Carrk who came back for a fifth year after receiving a year of eligibility due to the cancelation of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"For my class just coming back another year and the seniors now we want to make sure we go out with a bang and just keep playing as hard as we can with every point, we have a chance to," O'Malley said. "Our mentality going forward is to make sure we're playing the best volleyball we can and we're working harder than every other team in the conference. Because we know what we have in ourselves, we just want to be able to prove it to everyone else."
 
SUNY New Paltz swept the Golden Flyers when the two teams met just nine days ago. Grace powered the offense with a combined 55 assists in the pair of victories, making sure to spread the ball around to the Hawks' various weapons. Junior outside hitter Chris Shanley registered a career-high 13 kills in the game-one win, while Carrk and Spulnick paced the team with 11 kills apiece in game two.
 
The Hawks held the advantage over Nazareth in nearly every category in both matches, totaling more points (99-60.5), kills (82-44), aces (9-7), assists (78-41), digs (53-43) and a higher hitting percentage (.307-.076).
 
If SUNY New Paltz advances to the championship round it will either host Vassar Sunday in the Hawk Center or play St. John Fisher at Elmira College. The Hawks were swept by the Cardinals to start the year with both matches going five sets. SUNY New Paltz, however, is expected to be at full strength if the two programs face for a third time this weekend.

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