The New York University men's volleyball team won its season opener in five sets (17-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-27, 15-11) over visiting Benedictine University on Saturday, January 14, at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.

"It was a pretty good performance for our first match," said Head Coach Jose Pina. "It was nice for this group to start the season off with a win."

NYU dropped the opening set 25-17 after the visitors scored the final eight points of the frame. The set featured 13 ties before the Eagles went on their late run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Violets battled back to win the second and third sets, and were in position to take the match in the fourth set. Benedictine fought off a match point and scored the last three of the set to earn a 27-25 victory and force a winner-takes-all fifth set.

After giving up the first point of the fifth set, NYU did not trail again and scored three straight in the middle of the set to go ahead 7-4. The visitors cut the lead to two at 13-11, but the Violets scored the final two points of the match to record their first win of the 2017 season.

"I think our team is capable of having a really good season," added Pina. "We have great senior leadership and a solid group of underclassmen. It is a good mix."

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Four different Violets, including three freshmen - Evan Lindley (14), Neil Ferraro (12) and Alex Li (12) - recorded double-digit kills. 

"Those three were awesome in their first collegiate matches," explained Pina.

- Derrick Chiu dished out a match-best 52 assists, six more than the entire Benedictine team.

- Connor Keowen led NYU in digs with 12.

"I really think we can have an outstanding season," concluded Pina. "It may take a bit, but we have a lot of talent"

The Violets return to the court next week when they travel to the Midwest for a pair of games. NYU is slated to take on Dominican University (IL) on Friday, January 20 at 5pm (CT) and Carthage College (WI) on Saturday, January 21st at 5pm (CT).