The New York University men's volleyball team, ranked #15 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), suffered a pair of five-set losses in Kenosha, WI, on Saturday, March 12.
The Violets (9-10) were first defeated by host and #3 Carthage College (20-1) (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 15-7), followed by another tough loss (22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 15-11) to #8 Stevenson University (18-5).
"We had two really competitive matches against top-10 opponents.," said NYU Head Coach
Jose Pina. "We had opportunities to win each match, but were not able to close both fifth sets. We made a few serving mistakes and our serve-receive had some problems in those crucial fifth sets."
Against Carthage, NYU trailed 2-0 after the first two sets, but was able to mount a comeback by winning the third and fourth sets to force a decisive fifth.
Nick Benson and
Chase Klein led the way for NYU with 17 and 16 kills, respectively.
Derrick Chiu also notched a double-double with 48 assists and 10 digs, both team highs.
"I'm really proud of our comeback from two sets down against one of the top three teams in the nation," continued Pina. "The guys played hard throughout, but Carthage was just better at the end. Their physicality and serving took over in that crucial fifth set."
Versus Stevenson, the Violets took a 2-1 lead after three sets, but the eighth-ranked Mustangs closed out the final two. Benson (16 kills) and Klein (14 kills) once again led the way offensively.
"It was another tough five-set loss to a highly-ranked opponent," Pina said. "We had good attacking from a few guys, but our serving was not as strong as theirs, and that put us in some more predictable situations. That allowed them to defend us and convert off their digs."
HIGHLIGHTS vs. CARTHAGE:- Benson added nine digs, four service aces and five total blocks, while Klein registered eight digs.
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Sean Leahy finished with eight kills and five total blocks.
HIGHLIGHTS vs. STEVENSON:- Benson finished with seven digs, while Klein had eight.
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Phil Bueno totaled 12 kills, six digs and two solo blocks.
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Chase Corbett registered seven total blocks and five kills.
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Patrick Merrick chipped in 19 assists, 10 digs and three kills.
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Benjamin Oxnard finished with 12 digs.
NYU will return to action tomorrow, Sunday, March 13, against #10 Milwaukee School of Engineering at 1:00 pm (CST) in Milwaukee, WI.
