New York University's women's volleyball team is slated to make its return to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament next Wednesday, November 29, in Claremont, CA.

The Violets won the Ithaca Regional this past weekend, dropping just one set across the three matches to claim their second consecutive regional title. Head Coach Andrew Brown's team has been ranked in the top 10 for the majority of the 2023 campaign and carries a 16-match win streak into the national quarterfinals which are being hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.

NYU will take on a familiar foe in the Elite Eight in Northwestern-St. Paul, a team that defeated the Violets in Manhattan via sweep on October 13 in New York. The Violets sport a 32-4 record going into the Elite 8 and have already avenged their other three losses this year (Ithaca, Case Western Reserve, Emory).

Ithaca took down NYU in the first-ever match at the John A. Paulson Center in both teams' season opener on September 1, but the Violets bounced back with a sweep of the Bombers on their home court last Saturday to advance to California. 

NYU's other two defeats came in University Athletic Association (UAA) regular-season play, falling to Case Western Reserve in straight sets on September 23 and suffering a four-set loss against Emory on October 8. But, the Violets got the best of both opponents at the UAA Championship, sweeping the Spartans in the semifinals before upending Emory in a five-set thriller in the final to claim NYU's second UAA title in the last three years.

The clash against Northwestern-St. Paul gives NYU the opportunity to continue this trend and will begin at 11:30am Pacific time (2:30pm Eastern) on Wednesday, November 29.

It's the Violets' second-straight national quarterfinals appearance for NYU after reaching the Final Four last year. The winner of next Wednesday's showdown will take on either defending national champion Juniata or Trinity (TX) in the national semifinals. NYU is seeded third out of the eight remaining teams, while Northwestern is #6, Juniata is #2 and Trinity is #7. The other side of the bracket sees #1 Wisconsin-Oshkosh battle #8 and host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and #4 Hope face #5 Johns Hopkins.

Trinity knocked the Violets out of the Tournament in both of the last two editions: in the 2021 Sweet 16 and 2022 Final Four. So, a potential rematch with the Tigers could set up another chance to avenge past defeats.

However, all of the focus begins on Northwestern.

The Violets' depth has been the biggest talking point this season as 13 different student-athletes have appeared in 17-or-more matches. Leading the way has been veteran outside hitter and the Ithaca Region Most Outstanding Player Haley Holz, who tops the team with 3.38 kills and 3.92 points per set.

Freshman Grace Nelson has burst on to the scene as well, winning the UAA Rookie of the Year award and earning a spot on the All-UAA Second Team with 3.01 kills per set and a team-high 63 service aces so far this season.

Junior Lindsey Hirano already holds many program digs records and has kept it up this year, earning First Team All-UAA honors and averaging 5.21 digs per set. NYU's block has been huge this year as well, as graduate transfer Elise Curtin has controlled the net all season with 1.21 blocks per set while Leela Anvekar averages 1.06.

Setters Ava Launsbach (5.74 assists per set) and Dominique Drust (3.98 assists per set) are the cogs of the offense while graduate transfer Camille Nazor has done a little bit of everything for Brown's squad, averaging 2.41 points, 2.04 kills and 0.68 blocks per set.

Follow all of the action from Southern California via live stats and live video which will be published on the tournament homepage, in addition to ticketing, parking, directions, and all pertinent information.