The New York University men's volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Posada Royale Invitational, hosted by California Lutheran University, on Saturday, January 23, in Thousand Oaks, CA.
The Violets (2-1), ranked #9 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), began with a three-set sweep (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) over Lakeland College (3-2), but closed out the day with a hard-fought five-set loss (17-25, 25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 15-11) to #5-ranked University of California-Santa Cruz (5-0).
Chase Klein and
Nick Benson once again led NYU offensively in the first match against the Muskies. Klein led all players with 13 kills on 22 swings (.500 hitting percentage), followed closely by Benson's 12 kills on 25 attempts (.400 hitting percentage).
Chase Corbett also had an efficient match, finishing with nine kills on 11 swings (.818 hitting percentage). The sophomore middle hitter also had a match-high-tying five total blocks.
Derrick Chiu led all players with 40 assists.
The Violets never trailed in the first set. In the second, NYU fell behind by four points on multiple occasions, the last time at 21-17. However, the Violets closed out on an 8-2 run, including three kills from Benson, to take the set. NYU again did not trail in the final set en route to the seven-point win.
"It was a really strong effort from the team. We had a lot of ball control and showed a lot of grit to come back in the second set," said NYU Head Coach
Jose Pina. "Our defense definitely helped us win this match. Most importantly, because our ball control was excellent, we were able to hit the middle a lot."
In the second match versus the Banana Slugs, the Violets won two of the first three sets before falling to their highly-ranked opponents. Klein and Benson each notched 13 kills, while Chiu tied the match high with 13 digs and dished out a match-best 36 helpers for his first-career double-double.
In the fourth set, NYU led 25-24 after the two squads traded leads multiple times. The Banana Slugs, however, won the final three points of the set. The Violets again took a lead in the fifth, 6-2, but UC-Santa Cruz came away with the 15-11 advantage and the match win.
"It was even throughout and we had a chance to take the match in the fourth set, but Santa Cruz came back and won it," continued Pina. "It was great competition. Both teams struggled offensively, but both did really well on defense and serving. Santa Cruz was able to push it through because their ball control was slightly better than ours."
HIGHLIGHTS vs. LAKELAND:-
Stephen Tan finished with a match-high-tying five total blocks.
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Benjamin Oxnard notched a match-best 14 digs.
HIGHLIGHTS vs. UC-SANTA CRUZ-
Phil Bueno was second on NYU with nine digs. The senior middle hitter also finished with eight kills and a team-high-tying four total blocks.
- Corbett tied a team high with four total blocks. Tan also notched four blocks.
"Overall, I'm very happy with the first weekend of the season," Pina said. "I knew we had talent, but to play a team like Santa Cruz
in California and nearly pull out the victory bodes well for us for the rest of the seaosn."
The Violets will return to action when they host Hunter College at 7:30 pm on Tuesday night, January 26.
