Box Score

The New York University men's volleyball team notched its second straight win against a nationally ranked foe with a 3-1 victory at #14 Vassar College on Tuesday, March 22, in Poughkeepsie, NY.

 

The Violets (14-7), ranked #4 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Top 15 Poll, topped the Brewers (16-10) 25-23, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19 despite being shorthanded because the match was a makeup from a snowed-out contest earlier in the season.

 

“We had to play a different lineup because of classes and previous engagements, but we were still able to get a good win on the road,” said head coach Jose Pina.

 

With the match knotted at one set apiece, NYU claimed the important third set behind five kills from Pat Dodd and four team blocks – two of which were solos by Luke Hamlet. The Violets took a 23-21 lead on a Nick Capriccio kill, but Matthew Elgin responded with a kill of his own to pull Vassar back to within one.

 

An error put NYU back up two, and Hamlet and Connor Mortland then combined for a block on set point to give the Violets the crucial 2-1 lead.

 

NYU sealed the victory with strong offensive play in the fourth and final set, hitting .450 as a team. The squad built a 17-10 lead before the Brewers got as close as three, 20-17. From there, though, a series of errors from Vassar, a Capriccio kill and a Dodd service ace gave the Violets match point. Parker Kolodka ended the match with his sixth kill of the night.

 

The first set was the match's closest, with the squads drawn even at 21-21. But attack errors by the Brewers on three out of four points gave NYU set point, and Dodd clinched it with a kill.

 

Vassar bounced back and cruised to a win in the second set, building a huge 20-10 lead behind five kills from Evan Fredericksen. But the Violets recovered from the 25-16 loss to take the next two sets and the match.

 

Dodd led NYU with 14 kills and nine digs. Capriccio had seven kills, while Hamlet and Kolodka each had six. Hamlet added match bests of eight blocks and five service aces, and Connor Mortland totaled 36 assists, nine digs and five blocks from the setter position.

 

Fredericksen led Vassar with 19 kills and added 10 digs. Christian La Du had a match-high 16 digs, while Charles Caldwell recorded seven kills and four digs.

 

The Violets return to the court on Friday when they travel to Cambridge, MA, to take on rival Harvard University for an EIVA Hay Division match. First serve is at 7:00 pm.