The ninth-ranked New York University men's volleyball team split a pair of home United Volleyball Conference (UVC) matches on Saturday, March 28, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan. After falling to #7 Nazareth College in the opener, the Violets rallied to defeat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in their second match of the day.
In the first match, Nazareth defeated NYU 21-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20. The Violets were able to overcome the tough loss to then defeat MIT 25-27, 25-21, 27-25, 25-22.
Before the match against MIT, the Violets honored their two seniors,
Andrew Quirk and Arya Amirhekmet.
"Both Andrew and Arya are invaluable assets to this team who we are going to miss greatly going forward," said NYU Head Coach
Jose Pina. "Andrew has been a starter for four years and helps run our defense. Arya has been the perfect teammate and he's a great leader. There's a reason he is our captain."
NYU (14-8, 5-3 UVC) controlled the first set against Nazareth before dropping the next three and ultimately losing the match. The Golden Eagles dominated the final three sets of the match, putting the Violets in a position where they needed to regroup to face a quality MIT team.
After dropping the first set against the Engineers, NYU battled back and took the final three sets to earn the win.
"The match against Nazareth was important, and unfortunately we didn't get the win," added Pina. "But, it was great to see the squad clear their minds and bounce back to defeat MIT."
Nazareth Highlights:-
Nick Benson led the squad with 12 kills while adding five digs and one assist.
-
Patrick Merrick had a team-high 23 assists to go along with seven digs.
-
Jaime Rivera added 11 assists in addition to two digs and one service ace.
- Quirk was steady as well, leading the team with 10 digs.
MIT Highlights:- Benson again led NYU in kills with a match-high 22.
-
Chase Klein was dominant throughout the match. The sophomore finished with 16 kills, nine digs and a .517 hitting percentage.
- Merrick again led the team in assists with 35 to go along with five digs.
- Both seniors played well against the Engineers. Quirk led the squad with 18 digs while Amirhekmat tallied four, one short of his season-high.
"The results of today just mean we need to keep working in order to get to the NCAA Tournament," concluded Pina. "It's time to start gearing up for postseason play, and hopefully making a run at the UVC Championship."
NYU will be back in action on Tuesday, March 31, against New Jersey City University at Coles. The match is scheduled for 7pm and
live stats and
live video will both be available.
