The New York University women's volleyball team opened up University Athletic Association (UAA) competition with a pair of matches at the UAA Round Robin #1 on Saturday, September 30, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.

NYU (3-14) dropped both of its matches on Saturday, first falling in straight sets to Washington University in St. Louis (9-5) and then dropping a four-set match to Carnegie Mellon University (17-1). WashU is currently ranked #18 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), while CMU is ranked #10.

The Violets fell 25-17, 25-16, 25-13 to the Bears, who scored 10 of the first 13 points of the match to take a comfortable early lead and set the tone for the match.

In the second set, the teams split the first 18 points, before WashU used runs of 5-0 and 4-0 to go ahead in the set and take a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The Violets trailed by as many as five early in the third set, but battled back to close within two at 11-9, before their ranked opponent rattled off seven-straight points to go ahead by nine en route to a 12-point third-set victory.

CMU defeated the Violets 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23. NYU struggled early in the first set, but battled back to tie the frame at 17-17 before the Tartans finished the set on an 8-1 run.

The Violets led the second set 9-6, but five straight CMU points put them ahead by two. After Carnegie Mellon went ahead 17-12, NYU answered with a run of its own to tie the match at 20-20. Three straight Tartan points gave CMU a 23-20 lead, but the Violets closed on a 5-0 run to win the set and tie the match at 1-1.

Set number three was all Carnegie Mellon from the beginning as it went ahead 13-4 and led by as many as 10 en route to a comfortable six-point third-set win. 

In the fourth set, the squads went back and forth until a 5-0 CMU run put the Tartans ahead 23-17. Carnegie Mellon extended its lead to 24-19 before NYU scored four straight to cut its deficit to one. The Violets could not tie the match at 24, however, as CMU won the set and the match on an NYU attack error.

NOTABLES:

- Gretchen Cash came back from injury to play in her first matches of the season on Saturday.

- Cash and Michelle Stratford each recorded four blocks against the Bears.

- Zel Fortson and Katie Goyette each recorded double-digit assists vs. WashU, dishing out 15 and 10, respectively.

- Rayne Ellis was impressive against Carnegie Mellon, hitting .483 with 16 kills. Cash also had double-digit kills against the Tartans, finishing with 11.

- Jacqueline Kupeli recorded a team-best 24 digs against CMU.

NYU will close play at the first UAA Round Robin on Sunday, October 1, against host Case Western. First serve is scheduled for 10:00am.