No. 1 seed Vassar College and No. 2 seed NYU advanced to the 2024 UVC Championship match after winning their respective UVC Semifinal matches from Kenyon Hall on the campus of Vassar College on Saturday, April 13. The defending champion Brewers began the day by defeating No. 4 seed MIT in three sets, while the Violets earned a four-set win over No. 6 seed Nazareth University.
 
Vassar and NYU will meet for the 2024 UVC Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. Earlier in the season, Vassar defeated NYU in three sets from Kenyon Hall on Feb. 21 behind 16 assists and nine kills from Jacob Kim and six service aces from Billy Fan. The 2024 UVC Champion will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament. Vassar is looking to win its second straight UVC title and third in the last four years, while NYU is attempting to win its second league title (2017).
 
The NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Selection show will take place Monday, April 15 at 10 a.m. First and quarterfinal action will take place April 19-20 at campus sites. The championships will conclude with the semifinal and final rounds April 26 and 28 at the Athletic Wellness Center in Dubuque, Iowa. 
 
NO. 1 VASSAR 3, NO. 4 MIT 0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-20)
Top-seed Vassar (23-6) extended its winning streak to four matches after earning a three-set sweep over No. 4 seed MIT (19-8) in the first UVC Semifinal. The Brewers won by scores of 25-12, 25-21, 25-20.
 
Vassar rolled to a 25-12 win in the opening set behind eight blocks. The Brewers jumped out to a decisive 23-14 lead in the second set before MIT tried to mount a valiant rally, including five straight points before Vassar hung on. MIT jumped out to an early third set win before Vassar’s offense erupted, hitting .483 with 16 kills to clinch the match with a 25-20 victory.
 
Vassar, who is ranked second in the current NCAA Region II rankings and eighth in the NVA/AVCA Division III Men’s Volleyball national poll, hit .364 as a team and recorded 13 blocks. Vaughn Ramsey led five Brewers who recorded at least 7.5 points in the match, hitting .533 with 10 kills and seven assisted blocks. Jacob Kim added 10 assists, nine kills and four service aces, while Colin Jones hit .500 with seven kills and seven blocks. Gavin Akoto hit .714 with five kills and five blocks, while Billy Fan had six kills. AJ Erickson had 21 assists, while Tucker Shearn recorded 10 digs.
 
MIT, who is ranked fourth in the current NCAA Region II rankings and No. 12 in the NVA/AVCA Division III Men’s Volleyball national poll, had its three-match winning streak snapped. Nick Gustafson led all student-athletes with 19 kills to go along with five digs and a .368 hitting percentage. Grant Oh added nine kills and six digs, while Riley Oh dished out 24 assists.
 
Vassar out-scored MIT 59-40 in the match, with a decisive 13-4 edge in blocks and 8-2 advantage in service aces. Vassar also hit .364 compared to .190 for MIT.
 
MIT advanced to the UVC Semifinal match after defeating No. 5 seed Hobart College in four sets on Friday evening.
 
NO. 2 NYU 3, NO. 6 NAZARETH 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-23)
No. 2 seed NYU (17-7) continued its late season surge, extending its winning streak to seven matches after defeating No. 6 Nazareth (20-10) in three sets, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 in the second UVC semifinal Saturday.
 
NYU got off to a hot start in the opening set, slamming 16 kills, while hitting .552 as a team en route to the 25-16 win. The Violets jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the second set before Nazareth chipped away to get to within one at 16-15. NYU would respond, scoring the next four points and keeping Nazareth at bay to go up two sets. In the third set, Nazareth led 12-8 before NYU went on a 10-3 run to go up 18-15. The two sides would go back and forth in the set before NYU put the set and match away to advance to the championship.
 
NYU, who entered the afternoon third in the NCAA Division III Region II rankings and ninth in the NVA/AVCA Division III national poll, hit .322 as a team and Luke Boyer, Lucas Osiecki and Emerson Evans slam 11 kills apiece to lead the way. Boyer hit .500 on the match, while Osiecki had a match high 12 digs and Evans added eight digs and five blocks. Devyn Nguyen dished out 31 assists and added eight digs, while Buddy Cohen had a match-high six blocks.
 
Owen Wickens led Nazareth with eight kills, eight digs and two blocks, while Andrew Bodensteiner hit .263 with eight kills and a pair of blocks. Josh Weaver added six kills and AJ Burda had 19 assists for the Golden Flyers, who entered the weekend ranked sixth in the NCAA Division III Region II rankings and 17th in the NVA/AVCA Division III national poll.
 
Overall, NYU out-scored Nazareth 52.5-36 in the match and had 11 blocks to four from Nazareth and had a 38-29 edge in digs.
 
Nazareth advanced to the UVC Semifinals after sweeping No. 3 seed St. John Fisher in three sets on Friday night. It was Nazareth’s first UVC postseason win since 2016.
2024 UVC Championship Schedule (All matches at Vassar College)

Friday, April 12 – First Round
No. 4 MIT defeated No. 5 Hobart College, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 25-23)  – BOX SCORE
No. 6 Nazareth University defeated No. 3 St. John Fisher University, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23) – BOX SCORE

Saturday, April 13 – Semifinals
No. 1 Vassar College defeated No. 4 MIT, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-20) – BOX SCORE
No. 2 NYU defeated 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-23 – BOX SCORE

Sunday, April 14 - Championship
No. 2 NYU at No. 1 Vassar – 2 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
ABOUT THE UNITED VOLLEYBALL CONFERENCE
The United Volleyball Conference (UVC) is a volleyball-specific conference that features nine member institutions. The conference was founded in 2010 and began play in January of 2011. The UVC holds fair play and respect among its competitors to the highest regard and seeks to distinguish itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices.
 
For more on the UVC visit www.theuvc.org