Ryan Whealen's career night and three Violets with double-digit kills led the 10th-ranked New York University Men's Volleyball team to a comeback, five-set victory at Arcadia University on Wednesday, February 16, in Glenside, PA.

Gautham Dasari, James Haag and Tyler Flood combined for 43 kills as NYU picked up its third consecutive win, improving to 5-3 on the season.

"The 'reverse sweep' showed that this group has a lot of grit, which we'll need as we go into the toughest part of our schedule," said Head Coach José Piña. "Once we won game three, the guys were on their way."

The first set was tied 6-6 but the Violets used a 4-1 spurt to pull ahead and went on to lead 16-13. Arcadia stormed back with six unanswered points to permanently take the lead and went on to win 25-21.

Arcadia led for the nearly all of the second, despite NYU coming within 21-20, as nine Violet errors in the frame put the hosts on the brink of an upset sweep.

Set three was closely contested to start, but NYU scored four straight to take a 15-9 edge. The Knights climbed within two multiple times late, but NYU scored the final three points of the third for a 25-20 victory.

The Violets played from behind for much of the fourth until they came alive with five consecutive points, igniting a set-closing 12-5 run to tie the match 2-2.

Back-to-back Dasari kills put NYU ahead 9-5 in the decisive fifth set, but the Knights bounced back with a 5-1 rally to tie things at 10. The score remained knotted, 12-12, when a pair of Arcadia errors gave the Violets match point as they went on to win 15-13 to complete their first five set triumph of the year.

"Strong match for Gautham Dasari, Tyler Flood and James Haag," Piña added. "Ryan Whealen setting and Zach Knudsen on defense and serve receive were instrumental in the team's comeback victory."

BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN

• Whealen dished out a career-high 52 assists to fuel the Violets' attack, also contributing a career-best seven kills, six digs and a pair of blocks.
• Dasari notched a career high of his own with 16 kills and added a season-high eight digs on defense.
• Haag put down 14 kills along with five digs, two aces and two assists.
• Flood finished with 13 kills, a career high for him as well, on top of four blocks and three digs.
• Rookie Zach Knudsen totaled double-digit digs for the first time in his career (14).

NEXT UP
NYU plays the first of three straight home contests, welcoming United Volleyball Conference rival and 13th-ranked Nazareth on Friday, February 18, at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.