New York University's Women's Volleyball Team competed at the Kean University Tri-Match on Saturday, September 11, in Union, NJ, defeating the host Cougars and SUNY Cortland as the Violets extended their season-opening win streak to six matches.
"Both opponents today started off strong, they really knew how to set the tempo," said Head Coach
Andrew Brown. "I think we did a good job of settling down and playing our style of volleyball. We showed good poise, good unity and a lot of confidence from the entire team."
NYU began the day by defeating Cortland in four sets (17-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18) despite dropping the first. The Violets fell behind 10-3 in set one and couldn't recover, before using an 8-3 run in the middle of the second to take control. NYU never trailed in the third and held off a late Cortland rally in the fourth to secure the victory.
Haley Holz (Palatine, IL/Palatine) led the way against the Red Dragons, amassing a match- and season-high 17 kills on very efficient .432 hitting. Captain
Abby Ausmus (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day School),
Ella Spaethling (Larkspur, CA/Redwood) and
Ella Weider (Los Gatos, CA/Los Gatos) each totaled nine kills with Spaethling adding 10 digs, Ausmus five block assists and Weider four block assists.
Rookies
Zephyr Ning (San Jose, CA/The Harker School) and
Dominique Drust (Coto de Caza, CA/Santa Margarita Catholic) set the table for the Violets, combining for 48 assists. On defense,
Lindsey Hirano (South Pasadena, CA/South Pasadena) put up a career-high 36 digs to carry the team's back line.
"Even though we lost the first set, we didn't let that get to our heads," said Ning. "We were never too down about it or harsh on ourselves. We stayed positive and just kept pushing through it."
NYU followed with another 3-1 triumph over Kean (22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-8), once again coming back after dropping the first set. The score was tied at 21 late in set one before the Cougars scored four of the last five points. In the second, the Violets raced out to an 8-2 lead before holding off multiple Kean runs to even the match. The third was back-and-forth as NYU hung on for a 25-17 win before dominating the fourth and scoring the final eight points of the match.
Holz carried the offense again in this one, putting down a match-high 14 kills (.303) to go along with nine digs. Spaethling added 11 of her own and
Olivia Lewandowski (San Diego, CA/Del Norte) recorded 10 kills for a new career high. Drust dished out 20-plus assists once again (22) and Hirano posted 22 digs.
"We've prepared for this moment and have been working really hard in the gym," said Holz. "I feel like everything's coming together at the right time so I'm very excited for UAA's to start."
Holz was referring to University Athletic Association (UAA) play, which begins next Saturday and Sunday (Sep. 18-19) when the Violets compete at UAA Round Robin #1 in Chicago, IL. NYU will take on the University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis and Rochester University to open the Association slate.
