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HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Second-seeded New Paltz rallied from a two-set deficit Saturday to defeat third-seeded Nazareth in a five-set semifinal match of the United Volleyball Conference Tournament hosted by Stevens. New Paltz won by scores of 19-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13.

The Hawks will advance to Sunday afternoon's championship match against top-seeded and top-ranked Stevens, a three-set winner over New York University in the other semifinal match. Game time Sunday is 2 p.m. The winner gains an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nazareth is 27-6 overall and will be seeking an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the selections are revealed Monday.

Juniors Tim Zyburt, Josh Hieb, and Chris Mahan combined for all 12 of the Golden Flyers' kills in the first set. Nazareth finished with a .450 hitting percentage while holding New Paltz to .107. After the score was 10-9 in favor of Nazareth, the Golden Flyers recorded three consecutive points on a kill by Mahan, a Hawks' attack error, and an ace by junior Grant Levermore. New Paltz tied the match at 18 apiece, but Nazareth pulled away with a 6-0 run. Zyburt and Hieb each had kills while Zyburt and Mahan combined for an assisted block. A kill by Hieb sealed the set.

In the second, each team converted 14 attacks into kills for relatively even hitting percentages. The set was very competitive with the largest lead of the set being only two points. Trailing 23-22, the Golden Flyers recorded three straight points to take the two-set advantage. Zyburt converted his second kill of the set, then senior Luke Lawatsch and freshman Jake Kemp combined for back-to-back assisted blocks. Nazareth's offense was more balanced in the second as seven players recorded at least one kill. Mahan and Levermore recorded three apiece.

The Golden Flyers' offensive efficency slowed in the third and fourth sets. Between the two sets, Nazareth had 15 hitting errors and 21 total kills. After Christopher Husmann's kill gave New Paltz a 9-8 edge, the Hawks maintained the lead throughout the rest of the set. New Paltz stretched its lead to six points, 21-15, before going on to the five-point win. In the fourth set, Nazareth led 11-9 following a kill by Mahan. The Hawks, however, erupted for six consecutive points to change their deficit into a four-point lead. An ace by Zyburt pulled the Golden Flyers to within one point, 16-15. New Paltz regained control of the set with another scoring run to claim a 21-15 lead. Mahan's third kill of the set brought Nazareth to 23-20 before the Hawks tallied the final two points.

In the fifth set, New Paltz used a 5-1 scoring run to claim a 10-6 advantage. The Golden Flyers answered with five of six points to tie the set 13-13. Nazareth took advantage of a service error to start the rally. Back-to-back assisted blocks by Hieb and Mahan pulled Nazareth to within 12-11. Moments later, Hieb's kill tied the set. After a Nazareth service error gave New Paltz set-point. The Hawks sealed the match with an ace.

Zyburt finished with a match-high 16 kills while Mahan added 13 kills. Kemp amassed a match-high 44 assists while junior Cory Randolph tallied a team-high nine digs. Mahan had a solo block and six assisted blocks to lead Nazareth. Hieb also had six assisted blocks, and Lawatsch, Zyburt, and Kemp teamed for 12 additional assisted blocks.

Husmann tallied a team-high 14 kills for New Paltz. John Lutjen and Christian Smith had 26 assists and 25 assists, respectively. Lutjen and Kevin Nardone each recorded nine digs.