The New York University men's volleyball team dropped its fifth consecutive match, falling to Springfield College in straight sets on Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

The Violets (1-8, 0-3 EIVA Hay Division), currently ranked ninth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, struggled to locate serves and hit with consistency as the Division II Pride (7-4) won the match 3-0 (30-21, 31-29, 30-21).

The match featured 35 service errors, 19 of which went to the Violets. It also marked the first time the Violets hit for a negative percentage since March 26, 2005, against Penn State University. Against Springfield, NYU hit -.033.

"We're not very aggressive as a team," said NYU head coach Jose Pina. "After losing a couple games in a row, it takes the aggressiveness out of you, making it even tougher to get back on track."

Freshman Cooper Gwaltney paced the Violet attack with 10 kills. Trevor Salter, another Violet freshman, added 28 assists and six digs.

Senior captain Mike Ferragonio and junior captain Fran Hodgson combined to produce five service aces.

Other Violet highlights included a three-block effort by sophomore Ryan Limb. Sophomore co-captain Jay Hayes led NYU with nine digs.

"It essentially came down to execution, and we didn't do what we needed to today," added Pina.

The Violets return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 24, when the team travels to Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.