POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
First-year Head Coach
Andrew Brown and the New York University women's volleyball team took home the 2018 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III title, winning a pair of matches on Sunday, November 11, at Cabrini University in Radnor, PA.
After defeating Mount Saint Mary College in the first round on Wednesday and Misericordia University in Saturday's quarterfinal, the Violets (22-16) knocked off host Cabrini (23-11) in the semifinals and McDaniel College (22-9) in the championship.
"This caps off all of our hard work this year, it's amazing to see how far we've come," said Brown. "These student-athletes are really dedicated on the court and in the classroom, and I'm fortunate to be able to guide them."
NYU defeated the Cavaliers in four sets (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23) and then the Green Terror in straight sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-15).
Against Cabrini, freshman
Maddie DeJong led the way for NYU, totaling 16 kills, five more than her previous career-high. Also recording double-digit kills in the semifinal match was DeJong's classmate,
Abby Ausmus, who finished with 12. Ausmus was also impressive at the net, finishing the match with seven blocks, one more than teammate
Sabrina Krebs.
Katie Goyette led the way setting, dishing out 29 assists in the four-set match, while
Jacqueline Kupeli finished with a match-best 29 digs.
In the championship match, Ausmus led the way with 12 kills without committing an error. She added a career-high-tying nine blocks. Just as they did in the semifinal match, Goyette finished with the most assists (19) and Kupeli collected a match-best 17 digs.
Ausmus was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by DeJong and Kupeli.
"I wasn't expecting to receive this award," Ausmus said. "The setters were a big reason why I hit so accurately in the championship match. Katie (Goyette) and Stella (Alverson) were really on point."
Brown returns the majority of his team next season, but the Violets will miss their four seniors - Goyette,
Daryl Mitchell,
Annie Singh, and
Nazzerine Waldon - who ended their careers in style on Sunday.
"When I got to NYU we set a goal to change this program's brand and return it to its place as one of the premier women's volleyball programs, on the court and in the classroom, in Division III," concluded Brown. "This championship is just one step on the road to doing that, but I'm happy to see we have continued to progress in the right direction!"
