The New York University men's volleyball team picked up two victories on Sunday, February 15, at its first United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Crossover in Elmira, NY. The #10 Violets defeated both #14 Elmira College and Vassar College by identical 3-1 scores.
"It was a job well done by the squad in accomplishing the goal of starting conference play with a sweep," said NYU Head Coach Jose Pina. "We got excellent contributions from our subs today."NYU (5-2, 2-0 UVC) began the day with a four-set victory (25-27, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22) over the hosting Soaring Eagles (9-7, 0-1).
"We showed resiliency after getting out to a large lead and then dropping the first set," continued Pina. "Strong blocking and hitting made the difference against Elmira.
Chase Klein,
Colin LaPorte,
Nick Benson, and
Phil Bueno were pivotal at the net for us."
The Violets then took the Brewers (7-5, 0-1) in four sets (29-27, 25-21, 17-25, 25-17), as well.
"It was a well-earned victory after a hard-fought match against Elmira," said Pina. "Contributions by
Andrew Zhu and
Jake Getz off the bench were pivotal in winning the match. They brought fresh legs and fire to the team after a lull in the first set. We had another strong blocking match from
Phil Bueno, who finished with 20 blocks today."
LaPorte led NYU offensively in both contests, notching a match-best 13 kills against Elmira and a team-high 12 against Vassar.
HIGHLIGHTS VS. ELMIRA:- LaPorte finished with three service aces and six blocks.
- Klein added 12 kills on 23 attempts, swinging .435 against the Soaring Eagles. The sophomore hitter also notched four digs, one service ace and one block.
- Benson registered 11 kills, three assists, two service aces, two digs, and four blocks.
- Bueno finished with five kills, two service aces, one dig, and a match-best 11 blocks. Those 11 blocks, which were all assisted blocks, tied for the second-most assisted blocks in NYU's rally-scoring era. It also tied for the fourth-most total blocks in NYU's rally-scoring history.
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Patrick Merrick dished out a match-high 38 assists. The sophomore setter also had five blocks, three kills and two digs.
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Andrew Quirk led all players with nine digs.
HIGHLIGHTS VS. VASSAR:- LaPorte also had 12 digs, four blocks and two service aces.
- Quirk led all players with a match-best 20 digs.
- Merrick racked up a team-best 34 assists to go along with seven digs, four blocks and two kills.
- Bueno had nine blocks, two digs and two kills.
- Sean Leahy registered eight blocks, five kills, two digs, and a service ace.
- Klein finished with six kills, two digs, two blocks, and one service ace.
- Getz notched seven kills, three digs, three blocks, one assist, and one service ace.
- Zhu finished with three kills, four digs and two blocks.
NYU's next match will be on the road on Thursday, February 19, against #2 Kean University in Union, NJ. First serve between the Violets and Cougars is scheduled for 7:30 pm. Live stats and live video will be available.
