The New York University women's volleyball team fell to Hunter College in a five-set thriller on Friday, October 7, at the Violets' Brooklyn Athletic Facility in Brooklyn, NY.

After winning the first two sets (25-16, 25-15), NYU dropped the next three (25-13, 33-31, 15-8).

The Violets (13-7) dropped their fourth consecutive match, while Hunter (12-9) won its second straight.

Despite taking the first two sets, the Violets could not hold the advantage. The Hawks dominated the third set, snapping a 7-7 tie by scoring nine of the next 10 points and gradually increasing their lead to a set-high 12 points on two occasions.   

The fourth set was a thriller. NYU led by as many as seven points, 12-5, but Hunter rallied and tied the score 18-18. The Violets scored the next two points, but then the Hawks scored two. Again the Violets went ahead by two, but this time the Hawks scored four in a row to take a 24-22 lead. Eight more ties ensued before Hunter broke a 31-31 tie by scoring the final two points of the set.

The Violets got off to a quick 3-0 lead in the final set, but could not sustain the lead. The Hawks tied it at 5-5 then went up by as many as eight before securing the seven-point fifth-set victory.   

"Hunter stayed aggressive and pushed through," said Head Coach Jolie Ward. "They were on top of their game." 

NYU had fallen behind early in the first set, 5-4, but used a 5-0 run to take the lead. The Hawks came back to tie the score 13-13, but the Violets scored the next two points and never trailed again. The final nine-point margin was the largest of the set.

Hunter took several two-point leads in the second set. With NYU trailing 14-12, a service error by Hunter began a 12-0 run for the Violets who only allowed one more point before securing the second set.

That was the final victory for NYU as Hunter then rallied for the victory.  

"We have talent on this team," Ward offered. "We just have to be more consistent."

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:

- Rayne Ellis and Sabrina Krebs led NYU with 11 kills each.

- Katie Goyette (20) and Zel Fortson (18) led the Violets in assists.

Paighton Miller had a match-high 29 digs for NYU. 

The Violets return to action next Saturday and Sunday, October 15-16, when they compete at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin #2 at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. NYU will face Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago on Saturday, then Washington University in St. Louis and host Brandeis on Sunday.