The New York University men's volleyball team (10-7) took a break from conference play to face the undefeated #1-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology (21-0) on Sunday, March 17, in Boston, MA.
 
The #14-ranked Violets lost the first set 25-23, but came back to win the second set 25-18. However, they lost the last two sets 25-12 and 25-16 and fell 3-1.
 
"It was a well-played match by the young men. Wentworth is the undefeated #1 team in DIII for a reason, and they proved it today," said Head Coach José Piña. "Having said that, our boys gave them all they could handle and were within a couple of plays of being up 2-0."
 
NYU took a 10-5 lead early in the first set, going on two separate three-point streaks. At 13-7, six unanswered points from Wentworth tied the set, giving the Leopards momentum.
 
Wentworth broke an 18-18 tie with two consecutive points to take the lead for good. An Emerson Evans kill brought NYU to within one at 24-23, but the Leopards managed to see the set out.
 
The Violets took another 13-7 lead in the second set, but this time they stayed ahead. The gap was largest at 22-15, thanks to a run that featured two Luke Boyer kills and a Ry Kagan service ace. Two Wentworth errors gave NYU the second set.
 
It was the Leopards with the early lead at 13-5 in the third set, but three successive Violets points closed the gap to five. However, a five-point Leopard run extended the gap to 18-8 and they closed out the set by scoring six in a row.
 
The Violets fell behind 9-5 in the final set and could not make up the deficit. They trailed by as many as nine points before Wentworth clinched the win.
 
"Buddy Cohen and our three pin hitters had very strong attacking games, but even that really good performance was not enough to overcome the attacking and serving prowess of Wentworth," Piña added. "All in all, it was a pretty good weekend for our volleyball team."
 
NYU defeated MIT 3-1 on Saturday.
 
Boyer recorded a team-high 11 kills, followed by Cohen with 10 and Osiecki with nine.
 
Sachin Dasari led NYU with 30 assists and 12 digs.
 
NYU returns home after spring break, playing SUNY New Paltz in the Paulson Center on Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m.