The New York University women's volleyball team traveled to Glassboro, NJ, on Saturday, October 21, to take on a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) squads at the Rowan University Tri-Meet. 

After a win on Thursday evening against another NJAC foe in Montclair State University, the Violets (7-20) defeated host Rowan (11-15) in four sets on Saturday afternoon before falling to Stockton University (19-8) in straight sets.

"I thought we did a great job overall today," said NYU Acting Head Coach Karl France. "We got better as the match went on against Rowan and competed tough against a quality, regionally-ranked team in Stockton."

The victory against the Profs was tight throughout, as the Violets dropped the opening set 25-20 but rallied to win the next three frames, 25-23, 25-19, 27-25. NYU attacked at a .191 percent clip in the match and recorded season-highs in kills (54), assists (54) and solo blocks (11).

Five of those solo blocks came from senior captain Rayne Ellis, who was a big presence at the net all afternoon, adding a career-high-tying 20 kills. The Violets clinched the match on a solo block, as well, when Kelsey Kraetz blocked a Rowan attack attempt to give NYU its first three-match winning streak of the season.

"I thought we looked great at the end of that match," added France. "It was a good feeling as our blocking and defense started to come together, which in turn helped our offense."

The three-match winning streak came to an end later Saturday afternoon as Stockton defeated NYU 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.

The Violets led 9-5 in the opening set before five-straight Stockton points gave them the lead. The squads went back-and-forth, but a late run from the Ospreys gave them the opening-set victory. In the second set, Stockton jumped out to an 11-6 lead and never looked back en route to the seven-point win. The third and final set was close throughout, but a 5-0 Stockton run put the Ospreys ahead by three, 17-14, and the Violets were unable to get back in front. 

Inside the Box Score:

- Zel Fortson dished out a career-best 33 assists against Rowan, while Daryl Mitchell chipped in with 10.

- Jacqueline Kupeli (19), Grace Napolitano (13) and Kate Glavan (10) all collected double-digit digs vs. the Profs.

- Ellis once again led the Violets in kills against the Ospreys, finishing with 10.

- The Violets attacked at a .046 clip in their second match, while Stockton hit .258.

NYU returns to action next weekend when it travels to Upstate New York for the NY Region Challange, which will be hosted by the University of Rochester on Friday and Saturday, October 27-28. The Violets' first match in Rochester will be against Nazareth College on Friday at 4pm.