NEW YORK – Regular season champion Yeshiva University used a pair of straight set victories to claim the 2014 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) men's volleyball championship on Thursday afternoon, their second straight league title and third in the five-year history of the tournament.

The No. 1 seed Maccabees (10-17) defeated No. 4 Sarah Lawrence College, 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-21), in the semifinal round and a rematch of last year's title game, earning a spot in their fifth straight championship game.

In a rematch of their regular season finale two days ago that went to five sets, No. 2 St. Joseph's College (8-12) reached their first title game defeating No. 3 Webb Institute (3-8) with a combined 36 kills and .360 hitting effort that produced a straight-set, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-8) victory where they trailed just once.

But the Maccabees would stifle the Bears attack in the championship and held them just over a positive hitting percentage and led most of the match. After trailing for the entire opening set, the Bears drew even at 23-23 before the Maccabees won the final two points out of a timeout. The Bears took early leads in both the second and third sets before host Yeshiva pulled away with late runs for the title.

Adam Rhodes (Los Angeles, Calif.) directed the Maccabee offense with a match high 30 assists and fell one dig shy of a double-double. The senior setter dished out a tournament-best 62 assists (10.33 per set) and was named tournament most valuable player. Graduate outside hitter Jared Rechnitz (Los Angeles, Calif.) pounded 17 kills in the contest and helped on the defensive end with 16 digs, both match highs.

St. Joseph's was paced by junior Raul Urshela (Orlando, Fla.) with 10 kills and senior Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, Fla.) who had 20 assists.

In the award ceremonies following the championship, Yeshiva head coach Arnold Ross was named Coach of the Year, his third time receiving the honor.

Recaps: Yeshiva | Sarah Lawrence | St. Joseph's

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2014 HVIAC Volleyball Championships

Thursday, April 10, 2014
at Yeshiva University

Tournament Statistics

Semifinals 

#1 Yeshiva def. #4 Sarah Lawrence, 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-21) 
#2 St. Joseph's def. #3 Webb, 3-0  (25-13, 25-20, 25-8)

Championship 

#1 Yeshiva def. #2 St. Joseph's, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-16)

Tournament MVP

Adam Rhodes, Yeshiva - Sr. - Setter 

Tournament and Regular Season Champions

Yeshiva University

2014 All-Conference Team

* Denotes 2013 All-Conference Team selection
** Denotes 2012 & 2013 All-Conference Team selection
^ Denotes 2012 All-Conference Team selection

Coach of the Year

Arnold Ross, Yeshiva