NYU vs. Brandeis Box Score
NYU vs. Carnegie Mellon Box Score
New York University opened play at the 2010 University Athletic Association Volleyball Championship with wins over Brandeis University and Carnegie Mellon University on Friday, November 5, on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.
The Violets (34-4, 8-1 UAA), currently ranked #15 in the AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll and seeded #2 at the UAA Championship, opened Pool B play with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-13) win over the seventh-seeded Judges of Brandeis University.
Leading the Violets' offense was Kendyl Dunn, who put down 10 kills and hit a team-best .526 while putting up four digs.
Also tallying 10 kills in the match was Beth Fionda. She hit .406 while adding two digs and a block.
Along the back line, Alexis Schwartz recorded a match-high 12 digs to set the all-time NYU digs record, surpassing the previous record of 486 digs, which she set in 1994 by Gabrielle Lupe. Schwartz now has 488 in her career.
Two other Violets recorded double-digit digs as Rachel Sawyer put up 11 and Mina Baban added 10.
For the Judges, Paige Blasco recorded nine kills and Susan Sun added 11 digs.
In NYU's second match of Pool B play, the Violets dropped the first set before rallying to defeat the sixth-seeded Carnegie Mellon University Tartans 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-20).
Leading the offense in the match was Jessica Prepolec, who put down a match-high 16 kills while hitting .314.
Dunn continued her strong play on offense, tallying 15 kills and hitting .323 while also notching two service aces and putting back a team-high four blocks.
Also in double-digits on offense was Sally Downs, who notched 10 kills and hit a team-best .471 with three blocks and a service ace.
On defense, Schwartz continued her record-setting day. She put up a team-high 16 digs to become the first NYU player ever to surpass 500 digs in a season. The sophomore now has 504 digs for the 2010 campaign.
Sawyer and Natalie Fernandez both recorded double-digit digs, as well. Fernandez had 13 while Sawyer put up 10.
For the Tartans, Aislinn McCloskey put down 15 digs while Cameron Griffin added a match-high 19 digs.
The Violets return to action tomorrow for the final match of Pool B play when they take on third-seeded and #1-ranked (AVCA) Washington University at 10:00 am. The winner of the match will advance to the UAA Championship match to take on the winner of Pool A.
