Gautham Dasari's 19 kills weren't enough for New York University's 10th-ranked men's volleyball team in a five-set loss to Elmira College on Sunday afternoon in Elmira, NY.

The defeat drops NYU to 8-4 on the season and 1-1 in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) play.

"Tough loss for the team," said head coach José Piña. "Elmira is an example of how close the UVC is. We started a bit flat in the first three sets and had our best hitting game in set three but Elmira was still playing with a lot of emotion that we did not match." 

Dasari hit .265 and added six digs, four assists and a solo block to his team high in kills. Buddy Cohen joined him in double-digit kills with 11 while Sachin Dasari (27) and Ryan Li (23) both had 20-plus assists.

Ry Kagan also contributed eight kills and seven total blocks for the Violets.

The Soaring Eagles cruised in the first set, totaling 17 kills in the frame as opposed to NYU's 10 as the hosts led off with a 25-16 win. 

NYU turned things around in the second as seven kills from G. Dasari, a .417 team hitting percentage and four blocks in the set allowed the Violets to tie the match with a 25-19 victory.

Elmira never trailed in the third and led by as many as six (18-12) until NYU used a 12-5 run to tie the score 23-23. But, a Violet error and an Edwin Sosa kill gave the Soaring Eagles a 25-23 triumph.

The fourth was neck-and-neck throughout and again saw a 23-23 tie late in the set. The two sides traded kills before back-to-back Elmira errors resulted in a 26-24 win for the Violets and forced a fifth.

Set number five featured eight ties and nine lead changes but Elmira outlasted NYU, winning the fifth 15-12 as Maurico Alberto collected five of his match-high 31 kills in the frame.

"The last two sets were a battle but I believe that Elmira's momentum was a bit too much by that time," Piña added. "Ry had a strong match at the net and Gautham led the team in kills. We will now get ready for St John Fisher in our next UVC match."

Kyle Rasmussen had a career- and team-high 10 digs along with seven kills while Zach Knudsen contributed eight digs.

NYU next plays its UVC home opener against St. John Fisher College on Saturday, February 25, at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.