The New York University men's volleyball team, ranked #8 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), picked up its third victory of the season, 3-1, on Thursday night, February 4, at neighboring Baruch College at the ARC Arena in Manhattan.
The Violets (3-2) had lost two straight heading into the night, but bounced back in a big way against the Bearcats (0-4) by winning in four sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-12).
"Once we got comfortable, we started playing better," said NYU Head Coach
Jose Pina. "Our ball control got better because we were putting the ball in play and made Baruch make the plays, which then got our blocking going."
As a team, NYU out-hit Baruch with a .243 hitting percentage, compared to the Bearcats' .039. Individually,
Nick Benson notched a match-high 16 kills on 34 swings (.324), while
Chase Klein had an extremely efficient night. The junior outside hitter had just 22 attempts, compared to 59 in his last match, but registered 12 kills and just two errors for a .455 hitting percentage.
Phil Bueno and
Chase Corbett also had success on the evening. Bueno finished with 11 kills on 22 attempts (.318), and also notched five total blocks, including two solos. Corbett led all players with a match-high six total blocks, while adding eight kills.
Baruch began the match with several changes in its normal starting lineup and defeated the Violets in the first set. NYU recovered quickly, though, in the second set and jumped out to an 11-2 lead en route to the 25-20 win.
The Bearcats then began returning their regular starters to the court, but the Violets jumped over the home team. NYU took leads of 14-4 and 16-5 in the third set before finishing it off 25-17. The final and decisive set started and ended just as quickly, as the Violets bested Baruch by 13 points.
"We started out really flat because, for whatever reason, it was a different team than we had scouted and prepared for, so we were just off a little in that first set," continued Pina. "Once all their regular starters were in, our scout and game plan really kicked in and we were playing much better and doing the things we expected."
HIGHLIGHTS: -
Derrick Chiu led all players with a match-best 41 assists. The junior setter also had seven digs and three assisted blocks.
- Benson tied the match high with eight digs. The senior outside hitter also had three service aces, all of which came toward the end of the fourth set.
- Bueno also had three service aces.
- Thomas Leslein led Baruch with seven kills and eight digs.
NYU will return to action when they travel to Springfield, MA, this weekend for the Morgan Classic at Springfield College. The Violets will face the hosting Pride at 7:30 pm, followed by either Harvard University or the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at a time to be determined.
