NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Led by the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Gavin van Beveren, the Vassar College men's volleyball team defeated SUNY New Paltz by a 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21) score on Sunday afternoon in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship Final at the Hawk Center. It marks the first UVC title for the second-seeded Brewers, who battled from behind after the opening set to defeat the top-seeded Hawks and earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship.

The Brewers – ranked fourth in the nation in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll – are now 8-3 on the season, while the third-ranked Hawks move to 7-4. Vassar will find out its opponent for this year's tournament when the field of 12 is announced on Monday, April 12th at 10am. This year's championship will be held from April 21-24 at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.

The opening set was a close battle until the mid-point when a kill by Brendan Spulnick made it a 14-10 margin in favor of the top-seeded Hawks. New Paltz continued to press, opening up a 21-13 margin on a strike down the middle by senior middle blocker Nick O'Malley. The Brewers battled back as kills from freshman Colin Jones and sophomore Gavin van Beveren – both middle blockers - coupled with multiple attacking errors by the Hawks, closed the gap to 23-16.

Despite the momentum and another kill from van Beveren, Vassar couldn't get any closer as O'Malley closed the set out with another kill for the 25-19 win in the opener.

Second set saw another tight battle to start, but the Brewers gained the lead on back-to-back kills by van Beveren, followed by a pair of attacking errors by New Paltz for a 6-3 lead for the visitors.  The Hawks battle back to regain the lead on a kill by senior opposite Aaron Carrk, but Vassar responded, tying things up at 11-all as back-to-back strikes from sophomore outside hitter Andrew Kim pushed it to a 15-13 margin.

The Brewers continued to hold their lead, despite the gap closing to 24-23 following an outstanding block from Carrk and senior setter Matthew Grace, but the Hawks pulled it tied once again on a kill on the far side by sophomore middle blocker Pat Wing. Vassar pulled out the 26-24 set victory to even the match behind consecutive attacking errors on the Hawks.

Heading into the third set, both teams carried their momentum in from the second frame, but it was the Brewers that gained the early advantage behind an attack error from the Hawks, coupled with a service ace from Jones. As it had through much of the opening sets, the lead continued to bounce back and forth until three kills from sophomore outside hitter Joseph Harrington helped push the visitors out to an 8-4 edge.

The gap continued to widen following a service ace from senior middle blocker Ryan Duchemin, bringing Vassar to a 10-5 margin. Capitalizing on several VC errors and a kill from O'Malley, the Hawks managed to close the gap to one on a kill by Wing to make it a tight 18-17 margin in favor of the Brewers. It remained tight throughout the latter half of the set until kills from Kim, Harrington and a final service ace from van Beveren gave Vassar the 25-21 set win and a 2-1 edge in the match.

Fourth set opened – as expected – in a tight back-and-forth as neither team led by more than a point until an attacking error on the Hawks, coupled with a kill from van Beveren pushed Vassar to a 7-5 edge. That margin continued to widen as kills from Kim and van Beveren opened a 13-9 lead.

The teams continued to trade points deep into the set as a van Beveren kill pushed the VC edge to 21-17, but was quickly countered by a kill from O'Malley. After a Hawks service error, along with an ace from Harrington, the Brewers found themselves on the brink of a match victory.

Vassar clinched the UVC Championship title and the 25-21 set victory on a final kill from Kim.

van Beveren finished with 13 kills, adding a pair of service aces, five digs and two block assists. Kim laid down 12 kills with a squad-high nine digs, while Harrington posted five kills, two aces, four digs and two block assists. Freshman setter Jacob Kim added 25 assists, while Jones posted two kills, but sparkled on defense with two block solos and four block assists.

For New Paltz, O'Malley led all players with 15 kills and just two errors on 26 attempts for a solid .500 attacking percentage. He also added a game-best six block assists. Carrk posted eight kills with three block assists, while Spulnick had six kills, two aces and three block assists. Grace paced the Hawks with a match-high 28 assists, also notching four aces, a block solo and three block assists.
 
To watch Monday's selection show live, log on to the NCAA website at https://www.ncaa.com/live-updates/volleyball-men/d3/2021-diii-mens-volleyball-championship-bracket-be-revealed-april-12