The New York University men's volleyball team, ranked #9 in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-15 Poll, was defeated on the road by #1 Stevens Institute of Technology 3-0 in Hoboken, NJ, on Wednesday, April 1.
The Violets' (15-9) match against the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) rival Ducks (24-4) was a non-conference meeting, in which NYU fell in straight sets (25-14, 25-23, 25-23).
Despite not winning a set, the Violets pushed Stevens Tech to the brink in the final two, falling in both 25-23.
After a back-and-forth start to the second set, NYU found itself trailing 17-15 before jumping out to a 22-18 lead. The Ducks, however, took the next five points to take a 23-22 advantage. The Violets were able to knot it up at 23 before Stevens Tech won the final two points of the set.
The third set was more of the same as the Violets at one point led 12-8 before Stevens Tech jumped out to a 16-13 lead. NYU was able to knot it up again at 19-19 and 20-20, but dropped five of the final eight points of the match to fall to the Ducks.
HIGHLIGHTS:-
Patrick Merrick led all players with a match-best 23 assists. The sophomore setter also registered four digs, one kill and one assisted block.
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Nick Benson notched a match-high 12 kills on 29 attempts with seven errors to hit .172. He also had five digs and two assisted blocks.
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Andrew Quirk led all players with nine digs. The senior libero also had two assists.
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Chase Klein finished with six kills, seven digs, one service ace, and one assisted block.
The Violets will return to the court when they travel to Mahwah, NJ, to face Ramapo College on Tuesday night, April 7. First-serve against the Roadrunners.is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
