Hawks Earn Top Seed, Will Host ECAC Championships

NEW PALTZ, NY — Announced on Monday, April 3, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has awarded the SUNY New Paltz men’s volleyball team the top seed in this year’s championship tournament. The top seeded Hawks will host the ECAC Men’s North Volleyball: Division III Championship on Saturday, April 8. A field of four schools, including Newbury, Johnson and Wales, D’Youville, and SUNY New Paltz will compete in the Athletic and Wellness Center for the ECAC crown.

The four teams will square off in a semifinals round to decide the participants of the championship match. Number one seeded, SUNY New Paltz will take on the four seed, Newbury, at 11:00 am, with the two and three seeds, D’Youville and Johnson and Wales, to follow at 1:00 pm. The championship match is scheduled for a 3:00 pm start.

Admission prices for the day of competition are as follows; Adults…$5, Children (18 and under)…$3, SUNY New Paltz Students, Faculty and Staff (With College ID)…$1. All students/fans from participating institutions will be charged the Adult admission fee. The doors of the Athletic and Wellness Center will open for admission at 10:00 am on Saturday, April 8. Ticket prices listed above includes admission to all the scheduled matches; there is no re-entry fee.

Three of the participants, SUNY New Paltz (22-11, 11-3), D’Youville (20-8, 4-2), and Johnson and Wales (19-8, 8-2), were featured in this past weekend’s, March 31 through April 2, North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Championship Tournament. D’Youville entered the NECVA Championship Tournament as the three seed and made a semifinals appearance against the eventual champions, Rivier College. The Spartans fell to Rivier in four games, 3-1 (30-21, 30-23, 21-30, 30-26). SUNY New Paltz defeated Bard College 3-1 (32-30, 23-30, 30-13, 30-24) in the opening round to advance to a quarterfinals match with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The 13th seeded MIT was able to upset the Hawks in three games, 3-0 (30-24, 30-24, 30-18). Johnson and Wales, seeded 11th, took an opening round exit at the hands of sixth seeded Nazareth, 3-1 (25-30, 30-23, 30-24, 30-23). Newbury closed out their regular season schedule at 19-11 overall and 7-3 in the NECVA New England Division, for a fourth place finish behind Rivier, MIT, and Johnson and Wales.