The 2023 season came to an end for the New York University men's volleyball team with its loss to St. John Fisher University in the quarterfinals of the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship, which is being hosted by Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Friday night's match began well for the Violets, who won the opening set 25-23 and the third set 27-25. However, #6-seed NYU lost sets two (25-17) four (25-13) and five (15-13) to the #3-seed Cardinals.

The tight first set was tied 19-19 when Ry Kagan's kill and a Cardinal error gave NYU a lead it would not give back.

The Violets led early in the second set, but St. John Fisher's late-game surge secured the victory.

NYU led by as many as six points in the third set, and was ahead 21-18 following Ryan LI's service ace. However, the Cardinals scored the next three points to tie the set. The teams then traded points until the Violets fell behind 25-24. Gautham Dasari's kill staved off set point, Lucas Osiecki followed with another and a Cardinals' attack error gave NYU the set.  

St. John Fisher ruled the fourth set, securing the first four points and breezing to the match-tying victory.

In the deciding fifth, NYU fell behind from the start and trailed 10-6 before reeling off five straight points to grab their first lead. But, the Violets could not hold on. St. John Fisher snapped a 12-12 tie by scoring the final three points and advancing to the semifinals while also ending the Violets' season.    

"It was a really good match that ended in a tough loss," said Head Coach Jose Pina. "Overall, we were inconsistent from one game to the the other. But the guys played really hard and gave a great effort. Although we are disappointed in the loss, I am very proud of the way the guys went out and played their hearts out."

In the final match of his collegiate career, Dasari finished with teams highs of 18 kills and 17 digs.

Osiecki finished with 14 kills, Zach Knudsen had 11 digs and Kyle Rasmussen ended his NYU career with 10 digs.

"The seniors went out giving it their all," Pina added. "I'm really proud of their effort tonight."

Li finished with a match-high 46 assists for the Violets.