The 14th-ranked New York University men's volleyball team won a tight 3-2 match against Rutgers-Newark University in Newark, NJ, on Saturday, March 2. 

The Violets (7-5) fell behind 2-1, but rallied to pull out the final two sets for the  27-29, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 15-11 victory.

"It was a very tough battle against Rutgers Newark," said Head Coach José Piña. "The team had to fight very hard to pull off a well-earned five-set victory."

NYU took a three-point lead early in the first set 5-2 following two Scarlet Raiders errors and two Luke Boyer kills. However, Rutgers-Newark scored three unanswered to tie the score 6-6.

From then on, neither team was able to pull away. NYU opened up a four-point gap at 20-16, but Rutgers-Newark scored three in a row to bring the gap to one point. The Violets regained the lead at 23-20 with two Buddy Cohen kills and one from Emerson Evans. 

Rutgers-Newark tied the score 23-23 with three consecutive kills, and both teams exchanged match points. NYU took the lead three times, but Rutgers-Newark managed to take the momentum back and scored two in a row at 27-27 to take the first set.

Three consecutive points gave NYU a 4-1 lead in set two. A Lucas Osiecki kill and a Rutgers-Newark error extended the Violets' lead to 15-10. 

The Scarlet Raiders closed the gap to 16-14, and both teams kept trading points until a Ry Kagan kill ended the second set and tied the match.

The third set started competitively, but at 6-5 the Scarlet Raiders scored three in succession to take the lead. The Violets fell behind further at 14-8, but found their gear, scoring eight consecutive points to take the lead at 16-14.

But, with the score tied at 21-21, Rutgers-Newark scored four unanswered points to take the lead 2-1.

The fourth set was no different, as both teams traded points to 12-12. However, consecutive Scarlet Raiders errors handed NYU the lead at 15-12…and they didn't give it up for the rest of the set. 

The Violets stormed to a 6-0 lead in the final set. Rutgers-Newark threatened NYU at 13-11 after scoring three in a row. However, a Kagan kill and a Scarlet Raiders' error gave NYU its third straight win.

Kagan had a match-high 16 kills and 10 blocks. Osiecki also recorded 10 kills and Cohen had eight. 

Devyn Nguyen racked up 39 assists and Zach Knudsen had a match-high 18 digs.
 
"Kagan had another outstanding match leading the team," Pina added. "Knudsen had his usual top-level match in serve receive and coupled outstanding passing with a very strong defensive match as his match-leading 18 digs attest. All and all, a good victory for the team." 

The Violets return home to the Paulson Center this Wednesday, March 6, against Kean University at 7:00pm.