Luke Boyer posted a match-high 11 kills but New York University's men's volleyball team fell to SUNY New Paltz in straight sets on Wednesday night in a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match in New Paltz, NY.

The Violets and Hawks are tied for seventh in the latest NVA/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Poll, with New Paltz winning via close set scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-17.

"Tough loss in that we played pretty even with New Paltz in the first two sets, but our serving mistakes gave them the breaks needed to overcome us in those two games," said head coach José Piña.

NYU fell to 12-7 and 2-3 in the UVC with the loss, currently sitting tied for third in the league. Meanwhile, New Paltz clinched second place and a bye in the UVC tournament with a 5-1 conference record. The Violets have one more league match left, hosting MIT on Saturday afternoon.

The first set tonight was neck-and-neck, featuring 11 ties and three lead changes. A New Paltz service error knotted the score at 22-22 late, but a pair of NYU errors and a Brendan Spulnick kill gave the hosts a narrow win.

Set two saw 11 more ties and four lead changes, with the Violets going ahead by as many as four points multiple times. Back-to-back Boyer kills put NYU up 14-10, but play evened out as the score was later locked at 23-23. A New Paltz kill was followed by a Violet attack error to provide the Hawks with another closely contested victory.

The third set was close in the early stages, but the Hawks built momentum and eventually took a 20-15 advantage. NYU committed 14 total errors in the frame compared to New Paltz's eight as the hosts secured an important UVC sweep with an eight-point win.

"Game three was close through the first two-thirds and then their serving pressure got to us," Piña noted. "As a result, they were able to beat us in three sets. Now we get ready for MIT and prepare to play for our place in the UVC tournament."

Boyer hit .478 for his 11 kills, adding five digs, three assists and a pair of blocks. Gautham Dasari had eight kills, three digs and two blocks.

Lucas Osiecki contributed six kills, eight digs, two assists and a block while Zach Knudsen had a team-high nine digs. 

Ryan Li delivered a team-high 22 assists, five kills and three digs. Ry Kagan finished with four total blocks, three kills and NYU's only two service aces on the night.

Next up for the Violets is their last UVC tilt of the year and home finale, welcoming MIT to the Brooklyn Athletic Facility for Senior Day on Saturday, April 1, at 2:00 p.m.