It seemed as if its season was coming to an end when New York University's men's volleyball team fell behind 2-0 to SUNY New Paltz in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) semifinals on Saturday afternoon. But, the Violets stormed back to win the next two sets and force a fifth on the sixth-ranked Hawks' home floor.

Ultimately, top-seeded New Paltz (19-5) won the fifth 15-9 to remain perfect against league opponents this season. The Hawks took sets one and two by identical 25-20 scores, then fourth-seeded NYU (10-11) grabbed the third 25-20 and the fourth 25-23 in a thrilling postseason match between a pair of historically strong programs.

"Very hard fought match between two evenly matched teams," said Head Coach José Piña. "Our young men played their hearts out today and we are extremely proud of how they competed."

Five straight points for the Violets gave them a 7-3 lead in the first, but NP responded with an 8-3 spurt of its own to go up 11-10. NYU tied the score at 11, but the Hawks never trailed again in the frame and closed it out with three consecutive scores.

The teams jockeyed for much of the second as James Haag's kill capped off three straight NYU points to bring it within one, 18-17, late in the stanza. A 4-1 New Paltz run followed, giving the hosts just enough breathing room to come away with the win and lead 2-0 in games.

After falling behind 5-4 in the third, NYU scored three consecutive points and maintained the lead for the remainder of the frame. The Hawks kept it close, trailing by just one for much of the set, until another 3-0 spurt from the Violets, capped off by another Haag kill, put them ahead by four (19-15). Haag, a senior captain, finished the victory with a service ace to keep his career alive.

Gautham Dasari, who performed well throughout the afternoon, slammed a kill to give NYU an early 8-6 advantage in the fourth. Multiple ties and lead changes followed until New Paltz rattled off four unanswered points for a 17-14 edge on a kill from Kyle Shaffer. However, the Violets outscored NP 11-6 over the remainder of the period and Dasari recorded the final three NYU points to force a decisive fifth set.

The Violets ran out of gas in the fifth though, as a string of three straight NYU errors gave New Paltz an 11-6 lead that it wouldn't relinquish to narrowly avoid the upset.

"Our six seniors went out giving their best," Piña added. "They can hold their heads high for all they've done for NYU in their time as student-athletes."

Dasari and Haag paced NYU's attack throughout, tying for the team high with 12 kills apiece. Haag added a match-high-tying nine digs, four aces and two total blocks while Dasari chipped in three digs, two aces and a block assist.

Tyler Flood had six kills and three total blocks. Matthew Noel contributed five kills, five digs and three blocks of his own.

Ryan Whealen dished out a match-high 29 assists with six digs, two blocks and a kill. Race Agcaoili, the team's libero, brought up eight digs and doled out a trio of helpers.

NYU concludes the 2022 campaign with a 10-11 overall record and 3-4 mark in UVC regular season play.