Nazareth overcame four match points by Baruch in the fourth set and became the first school since 2001 to successfully defend its crown as the top-seeded Golden Flyers rallied past third-seeded Baruch, 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 18-25, 30-28, 15-12) to win the 2011 North East Collegiate Volleyball Association conference championship, on April 3 at Stevens. It was the 17th and final NECVA Championship.
The superconference of nearly 50 teams will be broken up into traditional conference alignments next season when the NCAA sponsors its first Division III men's basketball national championship.
Nazareth (29-3), appearing in the title match for the third year in a row, wins its second straight conference title while becoming the first school to accomplish the feat since D'Youville. Baruch, appearing in its first league final, does clinch the league's automatic bid to the 2011 Molten Division III National Tournament even as the NECVA runner-up because Nazareth, ranked No. 3 in the country, is hosting the championship and already qualified.
Nazareth junior outside hitter Billy Gimello was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament after amassing 16 kills and 10 digs in the title match. The win was Nazareth’s 20th consecutive victory. Senior middle blocker Ellis Walsh and sophomore setter EJ Wells-Spicer were also named to the All-Tournament Team representing the champions.
Baruch (34-14) entered the match ranked No. 7 nationally. The Bearcats had three players named to the All-Tournament Team—senior outside hitter Pablo Oliveira, senior opposite Eryk Kowalski and sophomore setter Jesus Echevarria.
In the fourth set, Baruch had four opportunities to win the match, but Nazareth fought off each of the Bearcats' championship points. With Baruch leading 24-23, Gimello converted an attack attempt to tie the match. A few moments later with a 25-24 edge, Baruch committed a service error to keep the Golden Flyers alive. Trailing 26-25 and 27-26, Walsh and Hans Schroeder each converted an attack to continue the set. After another kill by Schroeder, Nazareth held its first set point, 28-27, but a service error tied the set again. The Golden Flyers claimed the next two points though following consecutive kills by sophomore Robert Kraft.
Nazareth only trailed once, 6-5, in the decisive fifth set. The Golden Flyers took a two-point lead, 10-8, following an assisted block by Kraft and senior Will Siwy. A few points later, Gimello pounded a kill past the Bearcats to put Nazareth on the brink of the championship, 14-11. After a kill by Baruch's Eryk Kowalski, Kraft and Walsh combined for an assisted block down the right sideline to clinch the championship.
In the first set, the Golden Flyers fell behind early, 3-0. Still trailing by three points, 6-3, Nazareth tallied six of the next seven points to take a 9-7 lead. The run proved significant as the Golden Flyers never trailed again in the set. Before holding on for the two-point victory, Nazareth stretched its advantage to 22-16.
Baruch controlled the second and third sets, coming up with clutch digs and forcing the Golden Flyers into errors. The Bearcats had a hitting percentage of .320, and held Nazareth to .095 in the second set as Baruch doubled the Golden Flyers' kills, 14-7. Nazareth's attack rebounded to .333 percent in the third set, yet the Bearcats pounded out 15 kills and a .379 hitting percentage.
In addition to the kills from Gimello, Kraft also finished with 16 kills. Walsh and Schroeder finished with 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively for the Golden Flyers. Sophomore Dan Mowery tallied a match-high 13 digs while Wells-Spicer tallied 55 assists. Kraft had six total blocks while Walsh recorded five total blocks.
Kowalski finished with a match-high 28 kills on 58 attempts for Baruch. Pablo Oliveira added 21 kills and a match-high four service aces. The Bearcats finished with a 7-1 advantage in service aces. Jesus Echevarria amassed a match-high 57 assists while Nick Smith recorded 12 digs.