The New York University men's volleyball team opened the 2018-19 season with a tough five-set loss to host St. Joseph's College (Long Island) on Tuesday, January 15, in Patchogue, NY.

NYU, ranked sixth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll, was out-lasted by the Golden Eagles (1-0) 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-10.

"Lots of inconsistent plays by both teams throughout the match," said NYU Head Coach Jose Pina.

The Violets only led once in the first set, 8-7, before St. Joseph's scored the next four points and led the rest of the way.
 
In the second set, NYU broke a 5-5 tie by scoring the next five points and never leading by less than three thereafter..

The third set featured eight ties. Knotted at 11-11, the Golden Eagles scored the next four points and never relinquished the lead. 

At 9-9 in the fourth set, the hosts committed three consecutive attack errors and never recovered. They did pull within one on four occasions, but never caught the Violets. 

The Golden Eagles scored the first three points of the final set and held on for the match.    

"We had the opportunity to cut their lead to one many times in the fifth set," Pina revealed. "But they made a couple of excellent defensive plays and held us off."

Alex Li and Evan Lindley led the Violets with 13 kills each. Freshman Tyler Flood had nine kills and only one error for a hitting percentage of .667.

Lindley and Connor Keowen each had a team-high 13 digs. Martin Bikdeli led all players with 46 assists.

"It was a tough loss to start the season," Pina continued. "But, we will learn the lesson provided by this match and work to bounce back this weekend."

The Violets return to the court on Friday, January 18, when they travel to Naperville, IL, to take on North Central College. First serve is slated for 7:30 pm (central time).