The New York University men's volleyball team, ranked #8 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), defeated #15 Elmira College in a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match on Saturday, March 10, at NYU's Brooklyn Athletic Facility in Brooklyn, NY.

It was the first UVC win of the season for the Violets (8-6, 1-3) and the first loss for the Soaring Eagles (15-6, 3-1), as NYU swept the three sets 25-13, 25-23, 25-17.

After Elmira recorded the first point of the match, the Violets responded with five straight and never trailed again in the opening set. 

A much tighter second set featured 12 ties. But, with the score knotted at 23-23, a Soaring Eagle attack error and an Alex Li kill gave NYU the set. 

The Violets scored the first four points of the final set and led the entire way. The Soaring Eagles did manage to pull within two on several occasions. But, with the score 17-15, NYU went on a 6-0 run to thwart any hopes of an Elmira comeback. The match soon ended on a kill by Andrew Zhu.

"This may have been our best performance of the season. We played three strong sets and our serving was very good," said Head Coach Jose Pina.    

A ceremony honoring NYU graduating seniors Zhu and Jaime Rivera was held prior to the start of the match. 

STATS RIGHT:

- Li led NYU with 11 kills, while Zhu, Neil Ferraro and Evan Lindley had six each.

- Matin Bikdeli had a match-high 25 assists.

- Lindley led the Violets with seven aces and seven digs. Li (4) and Ferraro (3) also had multiple aces. 

"This was an important win for us. They were at the top of the conference and we were at the bottom," Pina explained. "And, it's always special to get a win on Senior Day." 

The Violets are right back in action on Sunday, March 11, when they host Bard College in another UVC matchup in Brooklyn. The match is set to begin at 1:30pm and will be preceded by a contest between Elmira and Stevens Institute of Technology at 11:00am.