The New York University men's volleyball team lost in three sets to Vassar College at the Morgan Classic hosted by Springfield College in Springfield, MA, on Friday, February 3.

Ranked #6 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Poll, the Violets (4-2) fell to the #9-ranked Brewers in straight sets (25-11, 25-13, 25-15).

"It was a very disappointing match in that we expected to perform better than the final score," said Head Coach Jose Pina.

Things got off to a rough start for the Violets. Vassar scored the first point of the first set and NYU never had the lead. Leading 4-3, the Brewers scored the next five points and NYU never got closer than five the rest of the set.

The Violet did grab an early lead in the second set, but could not hold it. NYU was within two, 11-9, but Vassar went on a 9-1 run to put the set out of reach.  

NYU did not fare much better in the third set, as a 9-6 deficit quickly became a 16-6 disadvantage and any hope for a comeback was thwarted. 

"Vassar played with similar drive and intensity as we did, but our serving game was really off tonight and their serving game was on," Pina explained. "This was totally reflected on the hitting percentages of both teams (.431 for Vassar, -.068 for NYU). We were predictable on offense because of their serving pressure.  And they were able to run their offense effectively because our serving was off."

BY THE NUMBERS:

- Alex Li led the Violets with six kills.

- Matin Bikdeli (8) and Derrick Chiu (7) led in assists.

- Adam Lee and Andrew Zhu each contributed four kills

The squad gets right back into action on Saturday, facing Kean University at 6:00pm on the second day of the Morgan Classic. 

"We will be ready for tomorrow's opponent and will play at the level we had in the five matches prior to this one," Pina concluded.