The New York University men's volleyball team is coming off a big weekend in which the squad improved to 9-0 in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) and moved up to the fifth spot in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Top 15 Poll.
The Violets don't have too much time to celebrate these accomplishments, however, as they prepare for their road trip to Wisconsin from Friday-Saturday, March 16-17. NYU is set to face third-ranked Carthage College and fourth-ranked Juniata College, as well as the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Eastern Mennonite University, at the Carthage/MSOE Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
“It is a great opportunity to play against two of the top four teams in the nation. I am just hoping we take advantage of it,” said Violet head coach
Jose Pina.
NYU departs for Kenosha, WI, on Thursday, March 14, as it plans on getting in one practice before its first match against Eastern Mennonite on Friday at 6:00 pm central standard time. The Royals are 8-9 on the season and are coming off a huge sweep of Ramapo College, a team that the Violets beat in four sets earlier in the season.
NYU's next match follows immediately after, against co-host Carthage, which is 15-4 with only one Division III loss. The Red Men are riding a four-match winning streak, having gone undefeated this past weekend at the Fontbonne Tournament, with one of those wins coming against #7 Massacusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is the team that ended the Violets' 11-match winning streak earlier this season.
“I consider Carthage to be the most talented team in the country,” said Pina. “In my opinion, they could be ranked number one.”
NYU then faces Juniata on Sunday at 10:00 am (cst). The Eagles boast a 16-6 overall record and sit atop the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Eastern Division.
The final match of the road trip is scheduled for 6:00 pm (cst) on Sunday, against another CVC foe, the Milwaukee School of Engineering. MSOE is 11-7 on the season and is also coming off a perfect 3-0 weekend in which the Raiders defeated MIT in four sets.
Check back all weekend for box scores and post-match summaries.
