Box Score

The #9-ranked (AVCA) New York University men's volleyball team (2-1,1-0 United Volleyball Conference) kicked off UVC play with an exhilarating come-from-behind win over local rival #11 Stevens Institute of Technology (0-1, 0-1 UVC) at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 28.

After losing the first two sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-19, the Violets faced matched point at 25-24 in the third set. The team never panicked and relied on the steady play of senior captain setter Connor Mortland to keep them in the match.

Mortland doled out back-to-back assists to sophomore outside hitter Phil Bueno, who had three kills on three hits in extra points. It was freshman outside hitter Chase Klein that put the set away at 30-28 with the last kill.

"It showed great character for the boys to dig deep and take that third set," said NYU Head Coach Jose Pina. "Stevens was playing very hard. We knew they weren't going to give anything to us. We had to take it."

After starting the night off with back-to-back errors, senior middle blocker Nick Capriccio went on an astounding streak by recording 11 kills in his next 12 attempts. Capriccio, combined with the solid defensive play of junior libero Andrew Quirk and senior defensvie specialist Dylan Ramey, kept the squad in the fourth set. Once again, the set went into extra points and once again the Violets were able to prevail, this time winning the set 26-24.

"Connor, Nick and Phil were clutch for us the entire night, but having Ramey enter in the third set gave us the extra spark we needed," said Pina.

The fifth set was as competitive as the previous two, with both teams playing at an extremely high level. After many big hits and long points, NYU found itself once more facing match point. The team never wavered and went on to win the next three, as well as the set and match (15-25, 19-25, 30-28, 26-24, 17-15).

"With such a young team; we expected some growing pains," said Pina. "I am so proud of how every player on this team worked together and lifted their game to another level."
 
Highlights:

- Mortland led all players with 51 assists on 108 passes.

- Quirk contributed a match-high 17 digs.

- Bueno hit .571 with 14 kills and just two errors.

- Capriccio didn't record another error the rest of the match and finished with 13 kills on 21 attempts to go along with five blocks.

- Klein led all players with 17 kills.

The Violets return to action on Saturday, February 1, against Lasell College in Newtown, MA. First serve is set for 1:00 pm.