New York University's sixth-ranked women's volleyball team split a pair of matches hosted by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, on Saturday. The Violets fell to the host Blue Jays in a grueling five-setter by scores of 27-29, 26-24, 26-24, 16-25, 13-15. Just 40 minutes later, NYU played and swept Virginia Wesleyan University with set scores of 25-15, 25-16, 25-21. 

It was the Violets' final two matches of the 2022 regular season, finishing with a 23-5 overall record.

"The team battled really hard today and hats off to John Hopkins' ability to play gritty defense," head coach Andrew Brown said. "We did a great job handling our very tough strength of schedule with the conclusion of the regular season and look to build off our experiences thus far into our upcoming conference tournament."

The highlight of the day was senior outside hitter Haley Holz becoming the fifth Violet in program history to record 1,000 career kills, achieving the feat in 93 matches.

NYU posted a 5-2 run to start the first set against the Blue Jays, but JHU responded with a 9-4 run of their own to establish a lead that they held until late in the frame. The Violets eventually evened things up at both 25-25 and 27-27 until an NYU error and Blue Jay kill ended the first.

In the second set, the Violets grabbed a small lead early, aided by a service ace each for Lindsey Hirano and Azrael Ning. Hopkins pushed back with five unanswered points though, taking a 24-19 lead. But, facing set point, the Violets came alive with a 7-0 spurt⁠—fueled by kills from Olivia Lewandowski and Ella Weider⁠—to come back and even the match.

NYU carried this momentum into the third, using an 11-1 run to maintain control until 20-12. JHU closed the point gap in one fell swoop, however, rallying for nine unanswered points to turn the game back to them at 22-21. Still, the Violets were able to secure the third with a 5-2 run to end the set. 

Both teams played a close game in the fourth, but the Blue Jays just managed to stay on top at 14-13. From there, they posted an 11-3 run to take them to the 25th point first and force a fifth set. 

An 8-2 run helped the Violets take an early lead in the final frame, but Johns Hopkins answered with several small runs that held the Violets back enough to win the match. 

Lewandowski recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 15 kills and 11 digs, building on the strong resume that earned her a career-first University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week one week earlier. Gabriella Spaethling tied her for the match high with 15 kills as well while Hirano notched a match-high 33 digs. Ava Launsbach also logged a double-double with 24 assists and 16 digs. 

The Violets then turned their attention to their first-ever meeting with Virginia Wesleyan, opening the first set with an 11-5 run to grab an early lead, boosted by kills from Spaethling, Holz, Lewandowski, Leela Anvekar, and Weider. NYU continued to control things through the rest of the set, documenting a match-high .500 hitting percentage to take the first. 

The Violets' strong play and a 13-5 run held the Marlins to .036 hitting in the second, carrying NYU to a 2-0 match lead.

In the third set, Virginia Wesleyan attempted a comeback with 12 kills but the Violets were ready for the adjustments. Holz documented eight kills in the frame, giving the Violets enough of an advantage to withstand a 4-0 run from the Marlins that brought the score to 22-21. Hirano aced a serve to end the match and the long day for NYU. 

Holz led in kills with 12, ending the day with 1,009 for her career, while Launsbach and Ning both recorded double-digit assists. 

Next up is the 2022 UAA Championship which NYU is hosting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn on Friday and Saturday, November 4 and 5. The top-seeded Violets take on eighth-seeded Brandeis University to open the tournament on Friday at noon.