The New York University men's volleyball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday, March 30, at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan.
 
And, celebrate they did as the Violets (14-7) swept both of their opponents, defeating Buffalo State University (14-14) 25-20, 25-20, 25-18 and Ramapo College (15-6) 25-23, 25-21, 25-18.
 
Before the Ramapo match, NYU honored its three graduating seniors: Robert Allen, Jack Candido and Brian Luu.
 
"I'm grateful for those guys and proud of how they have conducted themselves," said Head Coach José Piña. "They all contributed a lot to the team, and it was good for them to be honored at the ceremony."
 
The Violets got off to a great start in the opening match against Buffalo State, racing out to a 9-2 lead and never trailed in the set. The advantage grew to a game-high eight points on two occasions, the second on a kill from Candido giving NYU a 17-9 lead.
 
A six-point stretch by the Bengals brought them within one at 19-18. But the Violets clinched the match on consecutive Buffalo State errors. 
 
NYU fell behind 4-0 in the second set. Still trailing 6-3, the Violets took their first lead after scoring four unanswered capped by a kill from Lucas Osiecki. Again behind 9-8, a three-point run from NYU put the team ahead for good. Buffalo State did pull within one, but the Violets never relinquished their lead and won the set on another Candido kill.
 
NYU trailed 4-3 early in the final set but utilized a four-point streak highlighted by kills from Luke Boyer and Osiecki to take the lead for good. They extended their advantage to as many as seven points on several occasions before a Bengals' error gave NYU their first win.
 
The second match started competitively, but NYU took a 12-7 lead against Ramapo with four points in a row, featuring two kills from Osiecki.
 
The Roadrunners came within one at 23-22, but a Ry Kagan kill ended the first set.
 
The score was tied 3-3 in the second set when a pair of Ramapo errors put NYU in front to stay. A three-point streak highlighted by kills from Matthew Warter and Luu put NYU ahead 21-16 and an Osiecki kill put NYU up 2-0 in sets.
 
A three-point NYU run in the third set broke an 8-8 tie to give the Violets the lead. They didn't trail for the rest of the set and maintained at least a five-point gap throughout. The Violets went eight ahead after a trio of blocks and won the match after a Roadrunners' error.
 
"I am proud of the guys today, a lot of substitutions and takeaways to get out of it," said Piña. "But it's two wins and that's what we hoped for."
 
For the afternoon, Osiecki recorded 20 kills, followed by Boyer with 14, who also served five aces across both matches.
 
Sachin Dasari put up 68 assists and 14 digs while Zach Knudsen dug 15 times over both matches.
 
The Violets play at the Paulson Center again on Wednesday, April 3, at 6:00pm against Misericordia University.