Elmira, NY — For the first time since 2022, the road to the United Volleyball Conference title runs through the Hawk Center.
 
The State University of New York New Paltz secured the regular season UVC title with a 3-0 sweep over Elmira Saturday, and with Hobart falling to NYU, the Hawks clinched the top seed in the UVC Tournament, beginning April 10 running through April 12.
 
SUNY New Paltz (21-6 overall, 6-1 UVC) bounced back from an upset, five-set loss to Hobart Friday night with a comfortable three-set performance against the hosting Golden Flyers at Speidel Gymnasium.
 
The Hawks hit more efficiently Saturday, swinging at a .388 clip as a team. Elmira though, finished with more points (41-38), kills (38-33) and assists (35-32), but SUNY New Paltz's play at the net proved as the difference with the visitors notching four blocks with the Golden Flyers hitting just .200 on the day.
 
SUNY New Paltz trailed for most of the first set with Elmira taking a 23-20 lead before a service error allowed the visitors to side out. Peter Brutschin served through the next four points with the sophomore middle forcing Elmira into three attacking errors to aid in a 5-0 run to end the stanza. John Giotis helped with a kill off an assist from Matt Marusza with consecutive hitting errors following from the hosts resulting in a 25-23 final to allow the Hawks to get out in front in the match, 1-0.
SUNY New Paltz rode the momentum into the second and got out to a comfortable six-point lead that held until midway through the stanza at 17-11. The Golden Flyers closed the gap to within three, but the Hawks held onto the advantage and earned set point following a kill by Giotis and then a hitting error from Elmira at 24-18. A service error finalized the second, 25-20 to give SUNY New Paltz a 2-0 lead.
 
Brutschin brought his team's lead to seven following a kill at 20-13. A block by Krish Jain and Matt Teplansky ultimately gave the Hawks match point at 24-17 and Giotis secured the victory two points later with a kill off a set by Marusza to solidify the 3-0 sweep.
 
Teplansky continued his impressive stretch of volleyball, as he once again led the team in kills and points, finishing with a team-high 12 and 13.5, respectively, while hitting .321 in the match. Giotis followed, totaling seven kills on 13 attempts to swing for a .462 clip, while adding an assist, a block and four digs. Marusza finished with a game-high 29 assists, while adding two blocks and three digs.
 
SUNY New Paltz finishes the regular season at 21-6 overall and 6-1 in the UVC. The Hawks will play host to all three rounds of the UVC Tournament starting with the quarterfinals Friday, April 10, then the semifinals Saturday April 11 and the championship game Sunday, April 12. With games still left on the UVC schedule, seeding is still to be determined for the rest of the five playoff teams.

 
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