United Volleyball Conference | 4/9/2021 10:20:41 PM
Top-seeds SUNY New Paltz and Vassar College advanced to the 2021 United Volleyball Championship match after earning semifinal victories on Friday, April 9 from Elmira College's Speidel Gymnasium. New Paltz rolled to a three-set win over No. 4 seed Nazareth College, while the Brewers outlasted No. 3 seed St. John Fisher College in a five-set thriller.
NO. 1 SUNY NEW PALTZ 3, NO. 4 NAZARETH 0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-13)
The top-seeded Hawks (7-3 overall), who are ranked third in Division III, made quick work of No. 4 seed Nazareth (5-7, No. 15 in Division III) in the semifinal round of the UVC Tournament Friday at Elmira College, sweeping the Golden Flyers for third time this season to extend their 2021 campaign in pursuit of another championship title.
The first set was tied at four early, but the Hawks began flexing their superiority as the set waned. They took their largest lead at 22-9 with UVC Player of the Year
Matthew Grace leading the way. The senior setter had eight of his match-high 26 assists in the first with his team hitting .280 in the period. SUNY New Paltz was at set-point at 24-10 and finally put away set one two points later on a kill by junior outside
Chris Shanley.
The Hawks didn't give up many points Friday. The most they conceded was 15 which came in the second set, but they countered by hitting an efficient .583, committing no hitting errors and totaling 14 kills to take a 2-0 lead in the game.
SUNY New Paltz didn't trail after the opening point of the third set. It rolled out to a commanding 16-6 lead and Nazareth never really threatened to take the control. A kill by Carrk, followed by consecutive hitting errors by the Golden Flyers pushed the Hawks' lead to 23-11, while a service error a point later got them to match point. Shanley put the finishing touches on a dominating performance, ending the match on a kill from
Kyle Shaffer to complete the 3-0 sweep.
SUNY New Paltz finished with 44 kills and hit .361 in the game. Carrk, Shanley and Kunga led the way offensively, registering nine, eight and six kills, respectively. Carrk added 12 digs, matching a game-high with teammate
Robert Nolan, along with two blocks. Grace finished with an ace and three blocks to go along with his assist totals.
NO. 2 VASSAR 3, NO. 3 ST. JOHN FISHER 2 (25-13, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12)
Vassar, ranked fourth in Division III, appeared it might dominate early, cruising to a 25-13 first set victory. The Cardinals were held to a negative hitting percentage with eight errors to six kills. The Brewers performed well, hitting .312. After the set was tied 9-9, the Brewers exploded on a 9-0 run to take an 18-9 lead. During that span, sophomore
Andrew Kim fired off four service aces. St. John Fisher eventually broke the streak, but Gulick knocked in a kill before blocking with teammate
Ryan Duchemin. Vassar then used three straight Cardinal errors to close out the set.
St. John Fisher, the No. 7 ranked team in Division III, bounced back in the second, winning 25-19. This time it was Vassar struggling to hit at .133. After six ties, the Cardinals' Griffin Stella hit a kill and then blocked a Gulick attempt with Matt Cieplicki. A 5-0 run pushed the St. John Fisher advantage to 15-9. Colin Jones pulled the Brewers within one following a kill, but a 4-1 finish for the Cardinals tied the sets 1-1.
Vassar took the third 25-22 and held the lead the entire set. After a Vassar error, the Brewers only led by one at 20-19. Both sides went back-and-forth the final five points, but it was Kim knocked in the last kill. St. John Fisher won the fourth 25-21, using a 4-2 run to take a three-point lead after the set was tied 13-13. Kills from Kim and Gavin van Beveren cut it to 20-23, but two Vassar service errors sent the match to a fifth.
Kim, Colin Jones, and Jacob Kim knocked in a kill each to give Vassar an early 3-1 lead. The set tied seven more times, but a 3-0 Vassar run comprised of a Kim kill and ace and a group block from Jake Kaplan and Jones made it 12-9. The Cardinals put the score at 14-12 after a Cieplicki ace, but van Beveren ended the comeback with a powerful match-winning kill.
Vassar was led by Kim, who had 14 kills, six service aces, and 13 digs. Jones recorded 12 kills and four blocks, while Gulick finished with nine kills and six blocks. AJ Erickson dished out 28 assists, and Jacob Kim had 17.
For the Cardinals, Jake Baker recorded a match-high 15 kills. Paul Hackford had two aces, and Dylan Urbanski led both teams with 37 assists.
New Paltz and Vassar will meet on Sunday afternoon for the UVC Championship. SUNY New Paltz will look to defend its United Volleyball Conference Championship and win its fourth league title, while Vassar is attempting to win its first league championship. New Paltz won two of three regular season matches between the two schools, including a five-set thriller to end the regular season on April 5.
2021 UVC Championship Schedule
Friday, April 9 – Semifinals (at Elmira College’s Speidel Gymnasium)
#1 SUNY New Paltz defeats #4 Nazareth College – 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-13) - STATS
#2 Vassar College defeats #3 St. John Fisher College –
3-2 (25-13, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12) - STATS
Sunday, April 11 - Championship
#1 New Paltz vs. #2 Vassar – 1 p.m. at New Paltz