Box Score

The New York University men's volleyball team dropped its season-opening match 3-2 to Juniata College on Thursday, January 13, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

The Violets, ranked #12 in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Division III Poll, sparred with #2 Juniata from start-to-finish before succumbing 25-23, 17-25, 25-7, 15-25, 15-13.  

NYU (0-1) led 23-21 in the first set before the Eagles (4-0) ran off the next four points.  However, the Violets' disappointment did not keep them from handily taking the second set.
 
The teams alternated easy victories in the next two sets before embarking on the deciding fifth-set tiebreaker.

In that final stanza, the teams were tied on 11 occasions.  With the scored knotted at 12-12, Juniata's Alex McColgin recorded a kill.  NYU suffered a ball-handling error on the next point to give the Eagles match point.

The Violets extended the match when Fran Hodgson's kill pulled them to within 14-13.  However, a kill by John Prout followed and extinguished the Violets' final attempt.

Taylor Fauntleroy led NYU with 15 kills.  Hodgson had 14 and Nick Capprico added 11.

The Violets' Connor Mortland recorded a match-high 54 assists while Dylan Ramey was tops with 12 digs.

Chris Vrooman led Juniata with 16 kills.  McColgin finished with 12, while John Almquist had a team-high 40 assists.

NYU returns to the court next Thursday, Jan. 20, for a 7:00pm contest at SUNY New Paltz.