The fans were back in attendance as the New York University Women's Volleyball Team began hosting the NYU Invitational on Friday night.

The winning was back, as well. 
 
Having not played at home since October 9 and not in front of their home fans in two years, the #13-ranked Violets swept Montclair State University at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility. NYU (18-1) remained undefeated at home with the 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 victory over the Red Hawks (17-8).

"Tonight was really exciting to see the turnout of other students and student-athletes supporting our team," said Head Coach Andrew Brown. "We did a good job of feeding off their energy and taking care of a very talented Montclair State team."

NYU trailed by three points early in the first set. Still behind 11-10, the Violets scored six of the next seven points and grabbed the lead for good. 

An 8-2 run to start the second set established a comfortable margin for the Violets, who never led by less than four the rest of the way.

Strong play by the home team continued in the third set. The Violets scored the first two points and never trailed.

"There was so much energy in the gym, we weren't sure of how loud we needed to be because we weren't used to having so many people cheering for us, " said Haley Holz (Palatine, IL/Palatine), who finished with seven kills.

Olivia Lewandowski (San Diego, CA/Del Norte) led a balanced attack with 11 kills. Abby Ausmus (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day School) had 10 and Ella Weider (Los Gatos, CA/Los Gatos) added nine.

"Last year was my freshman year and this was my first time playing in front of our fans," Weider explained. "It was a completely new experience and I thought it was great to have that extra energy." 

Nicole Dao (Bethesda, MD/The Academy of Holy Cross) recorded a team-high 24 assists and Zephyr Ning (San Jose, CA/The Harker School) added 10. Lindsay Horano paced the team with 14 digs.

Overall, it was a well-balanced effort from both the team and the spectators that helped spur the team to another victory.

"We put a lot of effort into our practices," Dao said. "We have great competition in practices, something we haven't had for a very long time. When we have that type of competition, it really brings us up to a different level. We just really want to win."

The Violets return to the court in Brooklyn on Saturday morning at 10:00 am when they face Catholic University as the NYU Invitational continues.