The New York University women's volleyball team opened up play at the 2019 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship, which is being held on Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9, at the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL.
In their first match of the day, the Violets (25-7), seeded #5 in the eight-team tournament, fell to #4 seed Carnegie Mellon University (22-6) in straight sets by scores of 25-15, 25-15, 25-17. The Violets then swept #8 seed University of Rochester (11-20) by scores of 25-18, 25-12, 25-15.
Against the Tartans, Haley Holz (Palatine, IL /Palatine) had a team-high eight kills and Maddie DeJong (Houston, TX/Second Baptist School) added seven. Nicole Dao (Bethesda, MD/The Academy of Holy Cross) totaled a match-high 20 assists, while Jacqueline Kupeli (Danville, CA/Monte Vista) led the Violets with 18 digs.
Carnegie Mellon, ranked #19 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), never trailed in the match.
"Today we gained a lot of experience of how UAA's are high stakes and everyone is pushing high-level volleyball," said Head Coach Andrew Brown. "We had good moments against Carnegie Mellon, though, making some good counter adjustment."
In the second match, the Violets rebounded and were on the winning end of the three-set match.
NYU led from start-to-finish in each of the first two sets, but fell behind for the first time in set three when the Yellowjackets took a brief 6-5 lead. However, the Violets then went on an 11-1 win to put away the set and the match.
Holz again led NYU with 12 kills while Abby Ausmus (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day School) had 11. Dao (18) and Veronica Johnson (Santa Monica, CA/Santa Monica) (13) each had double-digit assists. Kupeli again paced the Violets with 16 digs and Johnson added 11.
Ausmus also contributed nine block assists.
"Against Rochester we did a good job of dictating the tempo and staying ahead in all aspects of the game," Brown added. "Tomorrow will be another strong test."
The Violets complete play at the UAA Championship when they face #6 seed Case Western Reserve University in the fifth-place match beginning at 11:00am (central).
