Since winning the NCAA DIII championship, the New Paltz men’s volleyball team has experienced a series of ups and downs.
In 2019, the team earned an overall record of 28-7. They proceeded to win the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship and defeated UC Santa Cruz in four sets to clinch the national title. The Hawks went on a six-game winning streak in 2020 before the season was cut short as the COVID-19 pandemic shut intercollegiate athletics down. Returning to limited play in 2021, the men finished with a record of 7-4, eventually falling to Vassar in the UVC finals. The next year saw drastic improvement with the team ending the regular season 21-7, before getting knocked out in the second round of playoffs by Springfield College.
In 2023, the team had another great season, achieving a 20-9 record. Unfortunately, the postseason brought disappointment when they were defeated by St. John Fisher University in the conference semifinals. The 2024 season marked struggles in conference play, and the team missed the conference playoffs for the first time since 2008.
“We have a team of young volleyball players this year. The team strategy is to create better chemistry in the volleyball court and for volleyball players to be more familiar with the game level of top Division III teams,” said head coach Radu Petrus. “Our goal is to make it to the United Volleyball Conference playoffs. In the postseason, we expect to improve our volleyball game and succeed to the UVC semifinal.”
Men’s volleyball’s youthful group has already made strides in the conference, with freshman outside hitter Nikko Tenedorio being named UVC Player of the Week for the week of March 10.
“Being athlete of the week is a huge honor that I was very blessed to have,” said Tenedorio. “Being just a freshman, I wanted to have the biggest impact and change the program into becoming a powerhouse team. We have made so much progress into the season and we are doing amazing on the way for UVC playoffs.”
Currently, the team holds a record of 10-10. On Feb 28, they swept nationally ranked Hobart College in the Hawk Center, and conference rival Elmira College and Elms College on March 1 in the first New Paltz Tri-Match. After a tough 3-0 loss to nationally ranked Springfield on March 5, the Hawks bounced back with consecutive wins against conference rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology and nationally ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology. This season, the team is working on their cohesiveness as a unit to return to the level of play that they know they’re capable of.
“As a team, we are hoping to receive a UVC conference win, and then we will focus on hopefully winning the NCAA championship,” said Tenedorio. “Our only shot at that is if we all take on a game at a time and focus every day at practice and at team lifts.”
The men’s volleyball team has six games left in the regular season to clinch a playoff spot after dropping to No. 1 ranked New York University on March 12. After one non-conference matchup, they will compete in three conference games from March 22 to 26 against Nazareth University, St. John Fisher University and Vassar College. After their second New Paltz Tri-Match against Baruch College on April 5, the team will play Juniata College for their Senior Day game.
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