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NEW YORK -- Third-seeded New Paltz ended Nazareth's men's volleyball season Friday as the Hawks held off the upset-minded Golden Flyers in a three-set match by scores of 25-19, 25-23, 25-21.

The match was a quarterfinal meeting in the United Volleyball Conference Tournament at Hunter College and ended the Golden Flyers' season at 17-13 overall. New Paltz improved to 19-7 and will play again in Saturday's semifinals.

The Golden Flyers hit a respectable .282 (35-11-85), but the Hawks were better with a .341 hitting percentage (42-14-82). In addition, Nazareth had just two service aces and 23 digs compared to New Paltz's five aces and 30 digs. 

Senior Sam Bittker had 13 kills for the Golden Flyers with 25 attempts for a .400 percentage. Junior Zachary Gillard added 10 kills on 23 swings for a .304 percentage. Senior Jake Kemp had 31 assists and sophomore libero Luis Vazquez had nine digs.

Ryan Cole had 13 kills for the Hawks, including six in the opening set to lift New Paltz to an early lead. Bittker had seven of his kills in the second set for Nazareth, but a pair of hitting errors late in the set enabled the Hawks to take a 22-21 lead. The Hawks held on thanks to a set-clinching kill from Bradley Schneider on the 25th point.

Cole and Nick Smith each delivered five more kills in the third set to offset four kills by Gillard. The score was tied at 14-14 before New Paltz iced the match with an 11-7 scoring run.