The New York University men's volleyball team, currently ranked #3 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), faced two opponents on Saturday, February 22, in Springfield, MA, and came away with two victories. The Violets first defeated SUNY Potsdam and then-#1 ranked Springfield College by identical 3-0 scores.  

The Violets defeated the top-ranked Pride by scores of 25-23, 25-17, 27-25.

There were seven ties in the first set and neither team led by more than three points. It was tied for the final time, 23-23, when consecutive errors from Springfield ended the set. 

The second set proved to be an offensive burst for NYU. The Pride scored the first point, but NYU tallied the next three and never trailed again. 

In the final set, NYU trailed Springfield 22-16 when a 7-1 run highlighted by a pair of services aces from Alex Li (Cupertino, CA/Monta Vista) locked things up at 23-23. Then, with the score tied 25-25, Neil Ferraro (Newton, MA/Xaverian Brothers) followed up with a kill and an attack error by Springfield gave NYU the victory.

"We cut the lead in the last set, and Alex's service aces really put the pressure on them," explained Head Coach Jose Pina. "We played well enough and got some digs at crucial times that really helped us gain momentum." 

The Violets won the battle at the net, hitting .354 compared to the Prides' .302.

Ferraro and Evan Lindley (Evanston, IL/Evanston Township) led the Violets with eight kills each. Matin Bikdeli (Irvine, CA/University) totaled a team-high 23 assists and five digs.

"I think the first comeback gave the guys the confidence to get back into the game, and we needed to keep our heads up and look out for the breaks," added Pina. "It was a very strong match from the guys. The hitting percentage alone showed how even the match was throughout."

The opening match against Potsdam (2-10) saw the Violets (11-0) sweep their opponents 25-8, 25-14, 25-19.

In the first set, NYU scored first and never trailed. 

NYU never trailed in the second set, either. The Violets led by as many as 12 before John Arege's (Little Silver, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) kill ended the set.

In the final set, NYU jumped ahead to an early 14-9 lead. The Violets went ahead by seven points on a pair of occasions before before settling for the six-point, final-set victory.  

Overall, the Violets again won the battle at the net, hitting a proficient .394 compared to the Bears' .017.

Arege led the Violets with 11 kills (.625), while Kyle Rasmussen (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park and River Forest) had 10. Ryan Li (San Jose, CA/Archbishop Mitty)  totaled a game-high 32 assists and David Ho (Los Angeles, CA/Harvard-Westlake) had seven digs.

"It was a good performance from the boys in the first match," said Pina. "Ryan had his second consecutive strong setting performance for us tonight."

The Violets are back on the court Wednesday, February 26, when they host Stevens at 7:00pm at NYU's Brooklyn Athletic Facility.