Having secured the United Volleyball Conference's (UVC) regular season title, the State University of New York New Paltz earned the right to host the UVC Championship tournament in the Hawk Center for the first time since 2022.
 
The quarterfinal rounds, slated for Friday, April 10 will feature in the first match No. 5 seed Vassar College versus No. 4 seed Hobart College at 5 p.m., with No. 6 seed St. John Fisher University facing No. 3 seed NYU at 7:30 p.m. Top seeded SUNY New Paltz and second seed MIT both received byes for the opening round.
 
The Violets will be looking to claim a three-peat, having won the UVC title in 2025 and 2024.  The Hawks, meanwhile, will be seeking their fourth UVC title as they claimed the championship in 2019, 2016, and 2014 — all years they made at least an NCAA Division III semifinal appearances with national title wins in 2019 and 2016. The Brewers will be working towards their third UVC title, winning the crown in 2023 and 2021. While all these, and other current UVC members have gone on to the NCAA DIII tournament, only SUNY New Paltz has won the NCAA DIII championship, in 2019 and 2016.

Read the offiical UVC Tournament preview by clicking here. 
 
Here's a look at each of the championship tournament teams:

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First seeded SUNY New Paltz, currently ranked seventh in the latest AVCA national poll and first in NCAA DIII Region II, concluded its regular season at 21-6 overall and a 6-1 UVC mark. Since Feb. 14, the Hawks have been on a tear, winning 11 matches in a row, finishing the second half of the season with a 13-1 mark, including huge wins against top ranked Springfield, fourth ranked Stevens and seventh ranked NYU.
 
SUNY New Paltz will be looking to capture its fourth UVC championship and earn its seventh trip to the NCAA DIII championship. The Hawks has appeared in all but one UVC postseason tournament since UVC's inception in 2011. The team were NCAA DIII champions in 2016 and 2019 and finished second in 2017.
 
For the 2026 season, SUNY New Paltz topped its opponents in every offensive and defensive category, with 1,227 kills, 1,140 assists, 164 service aces, 946 digs and 199 blocks.
 
Four different Hawks led the team in each of the offensive and defensive categories. Sophomore outside hitter Nikko Tenedorio (6'1"/Bay Shore, NY/ Bay Shore HS) was tops with 281 kills; he also contributed with 127 digs, 47 blocks and 20 service aces. Tendedorio was named twice as the UVC Player of the Week in 2026. Senior setter Dan Shanley (6'0"/Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West HS) led SUNY New Paltz with 177 digs and 45 service aces and was second in assists with 514. Junior setter Matt Marusza (6'2"/Orchard Park, NY/Canisius HS) was first with 518 assists. Senior middle blocker Krish Jain (6'4"/Hicksville, NY/Hicksville HS) led the team with 58 blocks.  
 
Additionally making major contributions in 2026, junior outside hitter Geoff Ndoria (6'4"/Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem HS North) was second with 208 kills, third with 126 digs and 20 service aces and fourth with 30 blocks and was the only member of the Hawks to claim All-UVC First Team honors as he was joined by Jain (second team), Marusza (second team) and Tenedorio (third team). 
 
Senior opposite Matt Terplansky (6'3"/Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale Senior HS) has been the Hawks' hottest hitter as of late as he finished the regular season third on the team with 173 kills and fifth with 85 digs and 17 service aces. Junior opposite Michael Spiegel (6'5"/Webster, NY/McQuaid Jesuit HS) earned a UVC Player of the Week honor while posting 144 kills; sophomore libero Max DeBonis (5'7"/Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore HS) added 111 digs. Senior middle blocker Mike Handell (6'5"/Wantagh, NY/Wantagh Senior HS) posted 29 blocks and junior outside hitter/opposite Matt Kudlinski (6'3"/Suffern, NY/Suffern HS) added 24 service aces as SUNY New Paltz's top serving specialist.
 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) currently ranked 19th in the latest AVCA poll, earned the second seed in the UVC tournament with a record of 20-7 and 5-2. The Engineers two UVC losses came against the Hawks in four sets and St. John Fisher in four. They ended the regular season with a win over Nazareth on the road, along with a non-conference sweep of Wheaton College but fell in straight sets in their regular season finale at home against then No. 19 Lasell in straight sets April 4.
 
Leading MIT are three first year players: outside hitter Nate Toth (6'3"/ Mokena, IL) with 221 kills, 125 digs and 37 service aces; setter Colin Zimmerman (6'3"/Phoenix, AZ) with 680 assists and middle blocker Matthew Louis (6'6"/Barrington, IL) with 59 blocks.
 
Head coach Todd Elwell was named as the Co-UVC Coach of the Year alongside the Hawks' Radu Petrus after he guided a young group to a No. 2 standing in one of the toughest Division III men's volleyball conferences in the country. Sophomore outside Braeden Baker (Pheonix, AZ/Sandra Day O'Connor HS) nabbed first team UVC honors for the Engineers and he was joined by Zimmerman (second team) and Louis (honorable mention).
 
Third seeded New York University (NYU), ranked ninth in the AVCA poll, concluded its season with a hard fought 3-2 victory over Vassar College, finishing 2026 with an 18-5 overall record and a 5-2 UVC mark, which ultimately helped the Hawks clinch the top seed in the tournament.
 
The Violets were 3-4 against nationally ranked teams after coming off a 2025 season where they finished 26-1 overall.  
 
Four players from California lead NYU: junior right side Emerson Evans (6'5"/Huntington Beach, CA) has 319 kills; junior setter Devyn Nguyen (6'3"/San Jose, CA) is tops with 856 assists; sophomore libero Bennett Tchailkowsky (6'1"/Huntington Beach, CA) has 232 digs; first year middle hitter Cade Miller (6'5"/San Carlos, CA) has 57 blocks and first year outside hitter Charlie Clifford (6'7"/ Glen Ellyn, IL)  led with 25 service aces.
 
NYU was well represented in UVC postseason awards as Evans was named the Player of the Year and Tchaikovsky Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year, while Clifford was selected as the UVC Rookie of the Year.
 
As the only UVC team to defeat the Hawks in 2026, the Hobart College Statesmen are the fourth seeded tournament team. They finished the regular season at 13-13 and 5-2 in the UVC and concluded a tough four-game stretch against top 12 teams going 2-2 with victories over No. 12 Lasell and then No. 8 SUNY New Paltz in five sets. The team dropped their final two matches, however, falling in five to NYU before succumbing to No. 1 Springfield April 4 in straight sets.
 
Hobart's schedule featured 11 matches against nationally ranked competition and were 6-6 against the highest level of competition.
 
The Statesmen present a balanced attack with four players with more than 175 kills: junior outside hitter/right side Aiden Kemora (6'3"/Chicago, IL) with 193, junior right side Noah Delong (6'5"/Mechanicsberg/PA) with 187, first year outside hitter Harry Fromberg (6'6"/Bridgewater, NJ), and junior outside hitter Daniel Sappia (6'2"/Wellington FL) with 178. Junior setter Zack Ferren (6'0"/Southbury, CT) added 423 assists; sophomore middle blocker Kian Kischke (6'3"/Massillon, OH) has 41 service aces and junior libero Gavin Meador (5'9"/Dover, PA) has 162 digs.
 
DeLong was a first-team All-UVC selection, while Fromberg and Kemora each landed honorable mention recognition.
 
Hudson Valley neighbor Vassar College are ranked at No. 18 in the latest AVCA poll after finishing the regular season at 17-9 overall and 3-4 in the UVC. The Brewers posted a 1-8 record against nationally ranked teams. 
 
Top players for Vassar include junior outside hitter Walter Birnbaum (6'6"/ LaJolla, CA) with 238 kills and 26 service aces; senior libero Casey McMenamin (5'11"/Northbrook, IL) has 190 digs; junior setter Parker Schoenl (6'2"/West Henrietta, NY) has 684 assists and junior middle blocker Armaan Desai (6'8"/Pennington, NJ) leads with 88 blocks.
 
Desai was the team's lone first team All-UVC selection, but he was joined on the all-conference list by Henry Bonney (Cambridge, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin) who earned second team honors after finishing second on the team with 195 kills, averaging 3.42 kills per set.
 
Rounding out the tournament entries is sixth seeded St. John Fisher University. The Cardinals ended the regular season at 19-10 and 3-4, respectively, finishing the last week of the season with a three-set loss against Vassar before concluding with a sweep over Vermont State and a four-set win over SUNY Potsdam.
 
Against nationally ranked teams, the Cardinals are 2-9 on the season. St. John Fisher has two players topping the kills list: senior outside hitter Gabe La Robardiere (6/7"/North Syracuse, NY) with 202 and first year outside hitter Avery Kielbanski (6'5"/Jamesville, NY) with 199. Graduate student setter Aiden Calhoun (6'0"/Burnt Hills, NY) and senior outside hitter Tyler Cohen (6'3"/St. Augustine, FL) have 447 and 323 assists respectively; Cohen also leads with 33 service aces. First year libero Luke Zimmerman (5'8"/Rochester, NY) has contributed 218 digs and junior middle blocker Guillermo Perez (6'3"/San Juan, PR) leads with 90 blocks.
 
Kielbasinski and La Robardiere each were named as All-UVC honorable mention selections for the Cardinals.
 
The Hawk Center will play host to all five UVC Postseason Tournament matches on the campus of SUNY New Paltz. The winners of Friday's quarterfinal move on to the semifinal round on Saturday, April 11, facing off against SUNY New Paltz at 2:30 p.m. and MIT at 5 p.m. The UVC Championship match will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 12 with the champion advancing to the NCAA DIII championship.
 
Tickets for the UVC tournament are $7 for adults, $5 for children and free for students with student I.D.
 
The first round of the NCAA DIII tournament will be held on April 16-17; the national semifinals and championship are scheduled for April 24-26 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
 
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