The 14th-ranked New York University men's volleyball team swept New Jersey City University on Tuesday night, February 27, at the ​​John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center in Jersey City, NJ.

The Violets, now 6-5, beat the Gothic Knights 25-18, 25-12, 25-18.

"Good win for the team," said head coach José Piña. "We served really well and hit at a decent clip. Our middles were dominant once again with both Kagan and Cohen hitting over .430."

NYU took the lead right from the start and remained in front for the whole first set. NJCU came closest with three unanswered kills to make the score 11-10, but the Violets answered back with five successive points – a pair of Emerson Evans kills, a Lucas Osiecki ace and two Gothic Knight errors – to open a six-point lead at 16-10. 

Both teams traded kills towards the end, and a Ry Kagan kill won NYU the set.

The Violets went up a level in the second set. After taking an early lead at 4-1, they only conceded three points before blazing to a nine-point lead with three Luke Boyer kills and two NJCU errors at 13-4.

The Gothic Knights subbed out five players and remained competitive. They answered every NYU point with two to close the deficit, 16-9. But they could not contain the Violets, as NYU went on a four-point scoring streak to make it 20-9.

NYU only yielded three more points, before a service ace, Boyer kill, and Devyn Nguyen kill put the Violets 2-0 up in games.

NJCU scored the first point in the third set, but NYU answered with four points – an NJCU error, two more Osiecki aces and a Kagan kill. The Violets widened the gap to eight points at 14-6 and maintained it until the Gothic Knights scored three-in-a-row to make the score 24-18.

An Osiecki kill won the Violets their second match in a row and sixth straight set. 

Evans recorded eight kills while Osiecki, Boyer and Kagan put up seven each. Osiecki had a match-high five service aces. 

Nguyen added another match-high 26 assists to bring his season tally to 384. Zach Knudsen had a match-high 10 digs. 

"Our serve receive was a strong defensive effort led by Knudsen, and a very good setting performance by Nguyen was a big part of our victory," said Piña. "But serving tough was the main driver led by Osiecki."

The Violets travel to Newark, NJ, to face Rutgers-Newark next on Saturday, March 2.