The New York University men's volleyball team, ranked #9 in the most recent American Volleyball Coach Association (AVCA) Top-15 poll, picked up a pair of three-set United Volleyball Conference (UVC) victories on Saturday, March 7, in Annandale on Hudson, NY.
"It was a good bounce-back weekend after losing to Stevens earlier in the week," said NYU Head Coach Jose Pina. "We played solid, fundamental volleyball and beat two conference opponents."The Violets (9-5, 4-1 UVC) began with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 26-24) victory over Penn State-Behrend (9-8, 1-4 UVC). NYU followed that with another straight-set victory (25-15, 25-21, 25-17) over Bard College (7-15, 0-5 UVC), who hosted Saturday's UVC Crossover.
"These two victories put us back in excellent position to earn a high seed in the UVC playoffs," continued Pina. "
Chase Klein and
Nick Benson had excellent hitting matches."
Klein led the way for NYU, finishing with 11 kills, a match-high-tying seven digs, two service aces, and a block assist against the Lions. The sophomore outside hitter notched a match-best .450 hitting percentage on 20 swings. He followed that up with a match-high 15 kills and no errors on 21 attempts to finish with an outstanding .714 hitting percentage against the Raptors. Klein also added two digs, one service ace and a block assist.
HIGHLIGHTS vs. PSU-BEHREND:- Benson led all players with 14 kills. He hit .276 on 29 attempts and added four digs and a block assist.
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Will Kozloski notched a season best with a career-high-tying 10 kills. The sophomore opposite also had six digs, three block assists and a service ace.
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Patrick Merrick notched two digs and a block assist while leading all players with 22 assists.
Derrick Chiu also had 15 assists, all coming in the third and final set. The sophomore setter added three digs and a block assist.
HIGHLIGHTS vs. BARD:-
Jake Getz finished with a career-high 10 kills, two service aces and two block assists.,The sophomore outside hitter also tied a career high with a team-best 10 digs.
- Kozloski notched six kills, five digs and two assists.
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Jaime Rivera dished out 28 assists in his collegiate debut for the Violets. The freshman setter also registered three digs, two kills and four total blocks.
NYU will return to the court when it hosts Rutgers University-Newark on Tuesday night, March 10, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm and
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