The New York University men's volleyball team defeated Nazareth College and fell to host Vassar College at the UVC Crossover in Poughkeepsie, NY, on Saturday, March 11.

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) #8-ranked Violets (11-7, 5-1 UVC) defeated the Golden Flyers (16-10, 2-3) in four sets (25-18, 25-20, 18-25, 25-20), before falling to the Brewers (18-6, 5-0) in four (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-11).

In the first set against Nazareth, NYU finished on a 10-3 run to turn a 15-15 tie into a 25-18 victory. The Violets jumped out to a 6-3 lead in set two and never looked back as they won 25-20 to take a two-set advantage. Nazareth never trailed in the third set and won 25-18 before NYU finished off its opponent in the fourth set, closing on a 10-3 run to take the match 25-20.

"The team did a very good job of defeating Nazareth College, one of the historically strong programs in our conference. Our serve receive, attacking and blocking were strong throughout the first match," explained Head Coach Jose Pina. "Andrew Zhu, Derrick Chiu, Neil Ferraro, and Sean Leahy were particularly strong and Alex Li had what has become his usual strong-hitting match."

Against Vassar, the Violets used a 5-0 run to turn a 10-8 deficit into a 13-10 lead and won set one 25-21. The second and third sets were back-and forth, but NYU ultimately lost both by scores of 25-23 and 25-20. In the fourth set, the Violets committed several errors and fell behind 13-2 en route to a 25-11 defeat.

"Match two versus Vassar was extremely close through three games and we had our opportunities to win games two and three. Game four was one-sided in Vassar's favor due to hitting mistakes on our part," continued Pina. "Our serve receive was excellent for the match, as well as our serve, but Vassar was able to pull away from us as they were able to neutralize Alex Li.  Neil Ferraro was our top player for the match, and Sean Leahy also had a good match."

BY THE NUMBERS

vs. Nazareth

- Zhu led all players with 16 kills while also recording six digs.

- Chiu recorded a game-high 43 assists in addition to six blocks.

- Connor Keowen recorded a match-high 13 digs.

vs. Vassar

- Chiu posted a team-leading 37 assists and 11 digs.

- Li recorded a team-leading 11 kills and three blocks.

- Zhu tallied nine kills and six digs in the match.

The Violets return to action on Thursday, March 23, when they take on Rutgers-Newark University at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.