NEW PALTZ, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball team finished its 2022 season with two consecutive victories and heads into this weekend's United Volleyball Conference Tournament having compiled a 19-5 regular season record. As a result of the stellar work all year long by coach Radu Petrus' squad, the team earned the top seed in the conference and will host the tournament in the Hawk Center. 
 
The 2022 UVC Championship Tournament begins Friday with the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m, semifinals Saturday at 2:30 and 5 p.m., and the finals Sunday at 2 p.m. To view the full UVC Tournament schedule, click here.
 
SUNY New Paltz earned its current position on the strength of its regular season record that included going a perfect 7-0 against UVC opponents. The program is looking to collect its first UVC crown since 2019 where it then made a run to its second national championship. 
 
"I think we have more potential only because hopefully they are more motivated to win," said Petrus. "That is the key. It's not easy being No. 1 when you already beat all the other teams, because in volleyball it's a lot of mental situations here. When you beat one team, they are very motivated to beat you and this has happened many times with Vassar, with NYU in the past."
 
SUNY New Paltz had a terrific run from Feb. 2 to March 5, a span of matches where they went a perfect 9-0, sweeping seven of those contests and conceding just two sets combined in the other two matches. The Hawks got their conference schedule off to a great start by defeating Bard College 3-0 on Feb. 9, and followed that up with victories over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3-1 and St. John Fisher College, who was ranked 13th at that point, 3-0. Both matches were in consecutive weeks. SUNY New Paltz, in back-to-back matches on March 23 and March 26, showed just the type of resolve that this season's team possesses. 

Against NYU, the Hawks won a grueling contest that went the full five sets where, after losing set four 25-11, they rebounded in resilient fashion to take set five 15-12. SUNY New Paltz then beat Vassar College, who was ranked No. 8 in the country at the time, 3-1 on March 26 in a match in Poughkeepsie, NY, which was pivotal in earning the top seed in the tournament. The Hawks, after dropping the first set 25-22, took three straight from the Brewers 25-22, 25-21, and 25-16. The team then ended the regular season with consecutive conference wins at Elmira College, 3-2 and Nazareth College, 3-1. 
 
"When we have a challenge, we play better," Petrus said. "Hopefully I can do my best to motivate these guys to play better."
 
SUNY New Paltz finished the regular season fourth in both kills and total attacks, with 1,021 and 2,290, respectively. They also finished fourth in four categories,  assists (937), service aces (180), service ace average per match (2.05), digs (735, 8.35 average per game), and were third in solo blocks with 50. 
 
Despite losing three All-Americans from last year's team, the Hawks filled in those roles well. Senior outside hitter Chris Shanley became only the third player in school history to be named UVC Player of the Year, and Pat Wing, who was named to the UVC All-Conference First Team for his efforts, was terrific, tallying 203 kills, which tied for second in the conference with Jordan Peiser of the Soaring Eagles of Elmira. Fellow middle blocker John Ronan placed sixth in kills with 112, which helped earn an All-UVC Honorable Mention selection. 
 
Arguably, senior setter Kyle Shaffer had the biggest shoes to fill, taking over starting setter duties from three-time All-America selection Matthew Grace, and quietly had a standout season finishing the year with 584 assists for an average of 7.89 per set en route to earning All-UVC Second-Team honors. Senior outside Brendan Spulnick also landed on the All-UVC team, his second-straight selection after finishing with team-high 56 aces. 
 
"It was their turn to prove it and they did," Petrus said of Shaffer, Ronan and Wing stepping into larger roles entering the year. "I think they understood what their role was on the court. I am happy with them, because it was a lot of improvement and I'm happy for the team because it created good chemistry."

However, going into the weekend Petrus will go with some of his second unit guys who helped the team to a four-set win over Nazareth in their regular season finale. Senior setter Cam Clark, who snuck in the top-10 of the UVC with 251 assists for an average of 5.58 assists per set, will get the start, as will senior opposite/outside hitter Tim Drake.  "I am very confident with that group," Petrus said.
 
SUNY New Paltz earned a bye into the semifinals of the tournament, as did the Cardinals of St. John Fisher who finished 22-7 and 5-2 in the UVC. The Hawks will play the winner of the Violets of NYU and the Golden Flyers, a match that will take place Friday at 5 p.m, in the semifinal game. 
 
In the regular season, Nazareth finished third in the UVC in total assists with 986, while finishing second in assists per game with 10.84. Leading the charge for the Golden Flyers going into the tournament is sophomore outside hitter and First-Team All-UVC selection Owen Wickens, who totaled 365 points on the season, and outside hitter Antonio Sargent, a graduate student who tallied 280.5, good for fifth place and a UVC Honorable Mention distinction. Wilkens also led the conference in service aces with 79. 
 
NYU led the conference in blocks per game with 2.06. Senior middle hitters Owen Wahlgren and Tyler Flood as well as senior setter Ryan Whealen finished fourth, sixth, and seventh in the conference in that category. Senior outside hitter James Haag, who led his team in kills, kills per set and total attacks with 191, 2.85 and 404, was named First-Team All-UVC, and Whealen was named Honorable Mention. 
 
St. John Fisher will play the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between the Soaring Eagles and Vassar. 
 
The Cardinals concluded the season with the first and third total point getters. Sophomore outside hitter Jake Baker's 376 were first while his 328 kills led the conference, both of which allowed him to garner Second Team All-UVC, while senior outside hitter Josh Bigford's 356.5 points were third and he finished second to his teammate Baker in the kills category with 303, for an average of 3.03 per set. He also joined the Violets' Haag, whose 237 points were seventh most in the UVC, and Shanley, as the only seniors to make the First Team. The Cardinals' David Cerqua, a graduate student, was named UVC Honorable Mention in addition to being recognized as UVC Libero of the Year. Freshman Griffin Stella also had a great year, concluding the season with 83 blocks, tops in the conference. 
 
Elmira's Oscar Munoz Trinidad, a junior outside hitter, was named to the UVC Second Team, in large part due to his leading the conference in kills with 253, 50 more than his teammate Jordan Peiser, a sophomore outside hitter, and Wing. The Soaring Eagles finished third in the conference in hitting percentage with a mark of .275, behind St. John Fisher's .282 and the Brewers' .305. 
 
Vassar's Andrew Kim, a junior outside hitter, garnered First Team honors for his efforts in registering 259.5 points, sixth in the conference. In addition, sophomore setter Jacob Kim was named to the Second Team as was junior middle blocker Gavin van Beveren, the latter of whom finished behind Stella in the block category with 68. Payne Lounsbery, a freshman outside hitter, was named to the Third Team and received Rookie of the Year honors. He finished with 110 kills, good for seventh in the conference. 
 
The Brewers, a potential finals opponent for SUNY New Paltz, would pose a strong challenge as, to go along with their acclaimed aforementioned players, they wrapped up the regular season first in the UVC in hitting percentage, assist average per set, and kills average per set. The group posted an average hitting percentage of 3.05, and kill averages were 11.44 and 12.39. 
 
"All of them [have the potential to win]. Elmira is good too. They beat St. John Fisher and even against Vassar, they have a few servers and if they serve well and receive well, they will challenge Vassar," Petrus said. "You never know. It's all about serve-receive and how the coaches will approach the game."
 
The Hawks were met with stern challenges towards the end of the regular season from their aforementioned matches against the Violets and the Soaring Eagles, and are looking to carry the momentum from the last two wins over the Elmira and the Golden Flyers into the conference tournament. 
 
SUNY New Paltz goes into the tournament, of which it has had a long history of success in, leading this year's All-UVC selections and having the newly named Coach of the Year, Petrus, who won the award for the second time in his tenure, leading them. 
 
Since 2011, SUNY New Paltz has been conference runner up three times, in 2011, 2015 and 2017, and was conference champions in 2014, 2016, and 2019. 
 
"​​In the beginning of the season, we weren't in the first 15 and all the players were frustrated and that was the motivation in proving everyone wrong," Petrus said. "Step by step we tried to add more confidence, team chemistry and individually have gotten better and after that the big game was at Vassar. We were very motivated to beat them."
 
Petrus has led his teams to two national championship wins in 2016 and 2019. In the seasons the Hawks made the NCAA tournament but did not win, they were semi finalists in 2014 and 2015, and second place finishers in 2017. Last season, the team lost to Vassar in the UVC Championship 3-1, and would be looking to avenge the loss if both schools were indeed to meet in this year's final. 
 
A UVC title would also ensure an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with an at-large berth not a guarantee even if SUNY New Paltz wins its semifinal matchup Saturday and solidifies a spot in the championship round. However, Petrus was confident if his team plays at the highest level they're capable of, they'll be hoisting another conference title in the Hawk Center.

"We're not looking for an at-large bid. If we play well, no one can beat us. If we play that way no one will stop us," he said.

First serve for the Hawks is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Hawk Center. 

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