NEW YORK—In a battle of the top two seeds for the 2015 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's volleyball championship, regular season champion Yeshiva University held off a gritty Pratt Institute to win in straight sets and capturing their third straight title and fourth overall at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Wednesday night.

The No. 1 Maccabees (9-17, 4-2 HVIAC) advanced to their sixth straight title game with a comfortable straight-set victory over No. 4 Webb (1-6, 1-5 HVIAC) in the first semifinal while No. 2 Pratt (8-6, 4-2 HVIAC) outlasted Brooklyn rivals No. 3 St. Joseph's (10-10, 3-3 HVIAC) in a five-set marathon that lasted nearly two hours in the other semifinal.

In the title game, the league newcomer Cannoneers didn't back down to the two-time defending champs and gave them all they could handle. But a balanced Maccabee attack led by Tournament MVP Eliakim Gartenberg (San Jose, Calif.) would prevail over the 2015 HVIAC Player of the Year David Cutler (Calabasas, Calif.) who led the Pratt offense with 18 kills and 15 digs, both match highs. Gartenberg slammed 11 kills in the title game with a .296 attacking percentage and stuffed three blocks, finishing with a team-best 19 kills and .400 hitting for the tournament.

In the second and third sets, the Cannoneers erased early deficits of as large as five points to surge late, eventually fighting off several Yeshiva set points, but the Maccabees held off Cannoneers for the 25-19, 26-24, 26-24 victory.

Kolya Miller (Chicago, Ill.) contributed an 11-kill, 13-dig double-double to the championship and 2015 Rookie of the Year Tuvia Marks (Los Angeles, Calif.) landed seven kills at a .312 clip and stuffed five blocks.

Leading the Maccabees back to the regular season and tournament titles in her first year at the helm, Jacqui Dauphinais was named 2015 Coach of the Year after the conclusion of the tournament.

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2015 HVIAC Volleyball Championships

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
at Yeshiva University

Tournament Statistics

Semifinals 

#1 Yeshiva def. #4 Webb, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-14) 
#2 Pratt def. #3 St. Joseph's, 3-2  (25-18, 16-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-7)

Championship 

#1 Yeshiva def. #2 St. Joseph's, 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 26-24)

Tournament MVP

Eliakim Gartenberg, Yeshiva - Sr. - Middle Blocker 

Tournament and Regular Season Champions

Yeshiva University