The United Volleyball Conference (UVC) announced its annual conference awards with four
Selections for the State University of New York New Paltz, which included Geoff Ndoria, Krish Jain, Matt Marusza and Nikko Tenedorio. Adding to the season honors, head coach Radu Petrus received recognition as the UVC Co-Coach of the Year.
 
To view the full 2026 All UVC men's volleyball team, click here: 
 
With a roster loaded with experience, the 2026 Hawks bounced back from last season's out-of-character mediocre showing to post an impressive 21-6 overall record and a 6-1 UVC mark, capturing the UVC regular season title and earning the No. 1 seed in the UVC postseason tournament. Those 21 wins included a season ending 13-1 record, including an 11-match winning streak with three huge wins over top-ranked Springfield, fourth ranked Stevens Institute and seventh ranked NYU. The Hawks are ranked first in AVCA Region II and seventh in the nation by the AVCA coach's poll.
 
To read more about Geoff Ndoria, Krish Jain, Matt Marusza, Nikko Tenedorio and coach Radu Petrus, continue below.

---

First Team All-UVC
 
Geoff Ndoria (junior/outside hitter)
Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North High School
 
Ndoria had a breakout sophomore season and built off that success into 2026, as he became the Hawks' most consistent outside throughout the year.
 
Able to play a full rotation with his ability back row, Ndoria finished the regular season second on the team in kills and third in digs, while finishing third in kills per set and second in digs per set. His play allowed him to capture his first career All-UVC honor as he was the only first team selection for the top seeded Hawks.
 
Ndoria was thrice named UVC Player of the Week, which included back-to-back selections Feb. 16-23 and most recently March 16 after he aided in wins over Nichols and Elmira.
 
The Ronkonkoma, NY native started 23 of 27 matches with 86 sets played and posted 252 points, second of the team. He finished the season with 209 kills, 20 service aces, 126 digs and 30 blocks — his 209 kills ranked him first in the UVC. He had season highs of 15 kills against Nichols College (3/11/26), 11 digs against Rutgers-Newark (2/14/26) and Hobart College (3/27/26), seven blocks versus St. John Fisher (2/13/26). Ndoria scored double figure kills in nine matches.

Against UVC competition, Ndoria averaged nine kills and six digs, while hitting at a healthy .382 with 13 total blocks in seven matches played.


Second Team All-UVC
 
Krish Jain (senior/middle blocker)
Hicksville, NY/Hicksville High School
 
Battling through injury the former 2023 UVC Co-Rookie of the Year played a pivotal role in the success of the team this season in his final season.
 
The Hicksville, NY native rounded out his career with his second All-UVC honor, landing on second team.
 
He provided leadership and experience to the court, and although he was limited in his minutes on the floor, he was a difference maker every time he stepped foot in the front row for SUNY New Paltz.
 
Jain played in 25 matches, starting 19 with 79 sets played and 126 points scored. He led the Hawks with 58 blocks and added 932 kills. He posted 11 kills versus Springfield College (2/11/26) and 10 kills against NYU (3/25/26). He had slx digs versus Nichols College (3/11/26) with seven blocks against the Bison and six blocks against Arcadia University (2/28/26).
 
Against UVC play, he totaled 36 kills and 47.5 points, averaging 1.38 and 1.83 per set, respectively. He led the team in blocks in against conference opposition, tallying 20 total in 26 sets played to average .77 per set, while also adding five digs to his repertoire.
 

 
Matt Marusza (junior/setter)
Orchard Park, NY/Canisius High School
 
Marusza worked his way back into the lineup after SUNY New Paltz dropped three of their seven losses within the first seven matches of the season. Marusza created stability at the setter position and the team flowed more efficiently offensively.
 
The result was a career season for the junior who claimed his first UVC honor, landing on second team and becomes the first setter for the Hawks selected since Kyle Shaffer's honorable mention selection in 2023.  
 
Marusza started 11 of 21 matches with 62 sets played. He scored 36 points and totaled 18 kills, 10 service aces and 77 digs, including a season high of nine versus Nichols College (3/11/26).  He led SUNY New Paltz with 518 assists, landing him third in the UVC. He posted 15 double figure assists in 21 matches with a season-high of 52 assists against Arcadia University (2/28/26) while also posting 30-plus assists in four matches and 40-plus assists in four matches.  

In seven UVC matches played — starting in five — the Orchard Park, NY native registered a team-leading 195 assists and averaged nearly nine assists per set, while adding 10 points on four kills and three aces. Defensively, he landed fourth-most on the team in digs with 25 and contributed six blocks.  
 

Honrable Mention All-UVC
 
Nikko Tenedorio (sophomore/outside hitter)
Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore High School
 
After a breakout freshman campaign, which led to UVC Rookie of the Year, AVCA Region II Newcomer of the Year and AVCA All-American honorable mention honors, Tenedorio returned for his sophomore season and nabbed another postseason accolade as he earned honorable mention All-UVC.

Integral to the Hawks' 2026 success, Tenedorio was one of four Hawks who spent the most time on the court. He led his team with 25 starts in 26 matches and was tied for sets played with 92. 
 
The Bay Shore, NY native tallied two UVC Player of the Week honors, which came Jan. 26 to start the year and most recently March 9 after leading SUNY New Paltz to back-to-back nationally ranekd victories in a huge week against No. 1 Springfield and No. 4 Stevens. He recorded double-digit kills and points to lead the way for the Hawks who proved they have the ability to contend for a third national championship.

Overall, Tenedorio scored a team leading 329 points, landing him seventh in the UVC rankings.  His 281 kills were tops for the Hawks and seventh in the UVC, while his 127 digs were second for New Paltz. Tenedorio also landed third on the team with 47 blocks and fourth with 21 assists and 20 service aces. In 26 matches played, he nailed 18 double figure kills, topped by 19 kills against Juniata College (1/23/26). He posted 10 digs versus Hobart College (1/24/26), 23 assists versus Juniata College and five blocks against NYU (3/25/26).

Against UVC competition, Tenedorio finished with 51 kills and 60 points to average 2.32 and 2.73 per set, respectively, ranking third on the team in both categories. Defensively he posted 27 digs, averaging 1.23 per set with 12 blocks, while also adding three aces and five assists to his stat line through those seven matches.  
  
 
UVC Co-Coach of the Year

Radu Petrus (20 years)
Overall record: 418 wins-183 losses (.696%)
UVC record: 93 wins-37 losses (.746%)
 
For the third time in his career, Petrus was named as the UVC Coach of the Year. Fittingly, in the last year of inception for the United Volleyball Conference, Petrus, a staple in the coaching ranks gets his last UVC honor after aiding to the team's succession throughout the conference for the last 15-plus years.
 
Landing UVC Co-Coach of the Year honors alongside MIT's Todd Elwell, Petrus collects a 2026 coaching recognition alongside his 2016 and 2022 honor.
 
Petrus, who has, in his 20-year SUNY New Paltz career, transformed a run-of-the-mill men's volleyball program into one of the nation's perennial powerhouse teams. As the dean of UVC coaches, Petrus earned his third UVC honors, sharing the accolades as UVC Co-Coach of the Year. 
 
Previously, he was named UVC Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2022 and earned AVCA national DIII Coach of the Year honors in 2014 and 2016. Among active NCAA DIII men's volleyball coaches, Petrus has amassed 418 career wins, second only to Springfield College's Charlie Sullivan's 543 wins. Petrus has guided the Hawks to three UVC titles (2014, 2016, 2019) and two NCAA DIII championships in 2016 and 2019.  Petrus has mentored 56 players to All UVC honors and has had 26 players named to All American honors.
 
This past year marked the 10th time a Petrus-led team notched a 20-plus win season with his team making postseason play for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons.  

 
******************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.