The New York University women's volleyball team played two matches at the NY Region Challenge on Friday, October 26, at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY.
The Violets (16-13) dropped their first match in four sets to Fredonia College (19-9), then defeated host Nazareth (record) in four.
The opening match was tightly-contested, with the Violets taking the first set 25-23 before being edged in the second (26-24) and third (27-25). Fredonia closed out the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth set.
The Violets trailed by four, 16-12, in the opening set before going on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.
After falling behind by as many as five points in the second set, NYU rallied and managed to grab set point at 24-23. However, the Blue Devils scored the next three points to earn the victory.
NYU led 23-22 in the third set, but Fredonia scored the next two points. The teams then traded points until a kill by the Blue Devils' Kailey Falk ended the pivotal set.
The Violets led 10-5 in the final set, but Fredonia embarked on a 9-1 run to take the lead for good.
Nazzerine Waldon produced a double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs for the Violets.
Abby Ausmus and
Gretchen Kincade each contributed 10 digs, while
Veronica Johnson had a team-high 21 assists.
In the second match, NYU dropped the first set 25-19, but rebounded to take the rest 25-20, 25-22 and 25-21.
NYU never led in the first set, but finally went ahead 11-10 in the second. The lead then changed hands several times until NYU broke an 18-18 tie with five straight points en route to the second-set victory.
The Violets fell behind 15-7 in the third set, but scored the next nine points to take the lead. Then, with the score tied 22-22, a kill by Waldon and two errors by the Golden Flyers gave NYU the set.
NYU trailed by as many as four in the final set. Then, still behind 19-18, the Violets scored the next four points and went on to clinch the match on another kill by Waldon, who led the way with 15 while Ausmus added 10.
Katie Goyette had a team-best 21 assists, with Johnson adding 19.
Jacqueline Kupeli contributed 17 digs.
"After the tough first match we went back to our fundamental team principles and made offensive adjustments that put our team in situations to close out sets," said Head Coach Andrew Bown. "The team did a great job at adjusting our game plan and adapting through the second match. Our team's confidence after the adjustment allowed for more energy and communication. At the end of the day, a unified team effort allowed us to beat a very tough and tested Nazareth team."
The Violets will play two more matches in the NY Region Challenge on Saturday, as the venue switches to the Rochester Institute of Technology. NYU will face host RIT at 11 am followed by Buffalo State College at 1 pm.
