Carnegie Mellon Box | Rochester Box

The New York University women's volleyball team dropped both of its matches on the opening day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship, which is being held Friday-Saturday, November 7-8, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.,

NYU (19-17), the #6 seed in the eight-team tournament, entered the gym knowing the competition would be fierce as they faced the #3-seeded host Tartans (22-9) in the first match. The Violets battled for three sets (26-24, 25-20, 25-11), but could not overcome their foes.,

"We fought hard," said Head Coach, Jolie Ward. "We played a lot better this time than we did the last time we faced Carnegie."

The Violets and Tartans met earlier this season, on October 19 at UAA Round Robin #2 in Chicago, IL. Carnegie Mellon won that match-up by scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-21.

In their second match, the Violets (19-18) took the first set from #7 seed University of Rochester (17-18), but could not maintain the advantage as the Yellowjackets went on to win,(19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21).

"We lost Josie Luck after the first set and unfortunately our passing broke down a bit," Ward explained. "Our hitting suffered and we just couldn't maintain the lead."

CARNEGIE MELLON MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

- Gigi Morally and Sonya Bray tied for team-high honors with seven kills each for the Violets.

- MaTia Hughes recorded a match-high 17 digs.,

- Katie Robinson set 17 assists for NYU.

"Sonya Bray had a strong match for us," Ward added. "Our serve receive was strong, resulting in an opportunity for our front row to put up solid attacks."

ROCHESTER MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

-,Nicole Frias, Bray and Gigi Morally all had eight kills for the Violets.

- Hughes recorded 33 digs for NYU, a match high.

- Celine Das set 20 assists.

The Violets return to the court on Saturday morning at 10 am to face #8 Brandeis University. ,