No. 1 seed SUNY New Paltz (22-6) and No. 2 seed MIT (21-7) advanced to the 2026 UVC Championship match after winning their respective UVC Semifinal matches from the Hawk Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz on Saturday, April 11. The Hawks began the day by defeating No. 4 seed Hobart College in four sets, while MIT ended two-time defending league champion No. 3 seed NYU’s bid for a three-peat with a four-set victory.
 
New Paltz and MIT will meet for the 2026 UVC Championship at the Hawk Center on Sunday at 2 p.m. Earlier in the season, New Paltz defeated MIT in four sets from the Hawk Center on Feb. 21 by scores of 19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-17. Geoff Ndoria hit .455 with 12 kills, while Matt Marusza had 29 assists and five digs for New Paltz. Braeden Baker had a match-high 19 kills and 21 points for MIT.

The 2026 UVC Champion will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament. SUNY New Paltz is looking to win its fourth UVC Championship, having previously won in 2014, 2016 and 2019. The last two times New Paltz won the UVC Championship, they also won the NCAA Division III Championship. MIT is attempting to win its first UVC Championship and is in the UVC title game for the first time in program history.
 
The NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Selection show will take place Monday, April 13 at 10 a.m. on www.ncaa.com. First round and quarterfinal action will take place April 16-18 at campus sites. The championships will conclude with the semifinal and final rounds April 23 and 25 at Blake Arena Center on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, MA. 
 
NO. 1 SUNY NEW PALTZ 3, NO. 4 HOBART 1 (25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 28-26)
In a nail-biting extended four set match, the No. 1 seed New Paltz Hawks (22-6) closed out the win over No. 3 seeded Hobart Statesmen Saturday in the Hawk Center in the semifinal round of the United Volleyball Conference Tournament to secure a spot in the UVC Championship match. Hobart had its season end with a 14-14 mark.
 
It was a revenge match for the Hawks who dropped a five-set match on the road against Hobart in their last week of the regular season, which not only put an end to a 12-game winning streak but put their hosting rights in jeopardy, needing help to fully secure the top seed. Ultimately, SUNY New Paltz earned the No. 1 spot and after the Statesmen defeated No. 5 Vassar in four in the quarterfinal round Friday night the re-match was set.
 
The Hawks were dominant in the first two sets, but Hobart gained life in the third to extend the match into the fourth where they led for the majority. Down by as many as five mid-way through, SUNY New Paltz began to rally as veteran coach Radu Petrus went to his bench to provide a spark. Michael Spiegel subbed in for his first minutes of the match and was the x-factor. The junior opposite totaled four kills and served through a pivotal run that helped his team secure the final set, 28-26.
 
The offense was spread around for SUNY New Paltz, as eight different hitters registered a kill with opposite Matt Teplansky and outsides Geoff Ndoria and Nikko Tenedorio all finishing in double-figure kills, each having around or above a .300 hitting percentage.
 
The fourth was a wave of emotions, as the Hawks seemed adamant to put Hobart away and not work another five-set match against the Statesmen. Petrus called a timeout early after SUNY New Paltz looked lackluster, watching the ball land for an ace.
 
The hosts slowly garnered momentum toward a rally after Hobart took its largest lead at 18-13. Spiegel helped turn momentum, first siding out for his team on a big swing from the right side before serving Hobart into a block by Mike Handell and Tenedorio. Spiegel then served two more points to get the Hawks all the way back, tying the match at 19-19.
 
After the score was tied at 21 and 22-all thanks to a block by Handell and Ndoria, and kill from Spiegel, respectively, the Statesmen were the first to set point after a kill from Zack Farren. They wasted the opportunity, however, serving into the net to tie the match at 24. The two teams traded points before SUNY New Paltz held match point at 26-25 on a Spiegel kill.

Hobart kept the set alive with a kill, but again served into the net, pushing the Hawks a point away from a UVC Championship appearance. Tenedorio served what turned into the game-winning point as a miss-hit from the Statesmen finalized the fourth, 28-26 and brought SUNY New Paltz one win closer to a conference title.

Teplansky led all players with 15.5 points on 13 kills, two aces, a block and seven digs. Ndoria followed with 15 points on 12 kills, two assists, three blocks and three digs. Tenedorio had 14.5 points on 11 kills, three aces, a block and seven digs. Handell was a part of five blocks and had three kills, while Marusza facilitated the offense with a game-high 40 assists and game-high eight digs to go along with two kills and an ace.

Harry Fromberg led Hobart with 10 kills, while Zack Farren added 21 assists.
  
NO. 2 MIT 3, NO. 3 NYU 1 (25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22)
No. 2 seed MIT (21-7) ended the bid No. 3 seed NYU (19-6) to earn its third straight UVC Championship, as the Engineers took down the ninth-ranked team in Division III, 25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22. NYU, who is the No. 9 team in the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball National Power Index, will await a possible at-large berth into the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

In the opening set, after an NYU attacking error gave MIT a 9-6 lead, the Violets rattled off four straight points to go up 10-9. The Engineers eventually regained the lead and back-to-back kills from Nate Toth gave MIT the 17-15 lead. Ryan Espinoza put the Engineers up five with an ace, and the Engineers would win the set off an NYU service error.  

In set two, Emerson Evans gave the Violets a 15-12 advantage which they held on to until the Engineers used a 4-1 run punctuated by a kill from Henry Garewal that tied the set at 23. NYU got set point, but the Engineers hung with another 4-1 run, ending with a Toth kill to take set two, 27-25.  

NYU raced out to a 9-4 advantage in the third set on a kill from Charlie Clifford. A 6-1 run from MIT, featuring three kills from Braeden Baker, put them in the lead, 15-13. NYU quickly responded, and the teams went back-and-forth before the Violets used a 5-0 run to take the third set 25-22.  

Jerry Feng gave the Violets a 9-7 advantage in the fourth set, but MIT scored the next five as a Garewal kill made it 12-9 MIT. Colin Zimmerman extended the Engineer lead to 18-12 with an ace, but Evans got NYU to within one at 20-19 with a kill, however, MIT held on as a kill from Toth secured the win and set MIT to the championship match. 

Toth led all players with 22 kills while Baker had 18 and Matthew Louis posted 10.  Zimmerman had two aces and a match-high 59 assists. Garewal led the way with 21 digs followed by Toth with 18 and Zimmerman with 10. 

Evans, the 2026 UVC Player of the Year, led NYU with 20 kills. 


2026 UVC Championship Schedule (All matches at SUNY New Paltz)

Friday, April 10 – First Round
No. 4 Hobart College defeated No. 5 Vassar College, 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-18) – BOX SCORE 
No. 3 NYU defeated No. 6 St. John Fisher University, 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) – BOX SCORE 

Saturday, April 11 – Semifinals
No. 1 SUNY New Paltz defeated No. 4 Hobart, 3-1 (25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 28-26) – BOX SCORE 
No. 2 MIT defeated No. 3 NYU, 3-1 (25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22) – BOX SCORE

Sunday, April 12 - Championship
No. 2 MIT at No. 1 SUNY New Paltz – 2 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS