The New York University women's volleyball team, ranked #11 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, fell to #2 Johns Hopkins University on Friday, September 20, at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan.

Hopkins, now 9-1, outlasted the Violets (8-3) in four sets 25-16, 19-25, 27-25, 25-15.

NYU scored the first point of the match, but Hopkins tallied the next three and led the rest of the opening set.  

The Violets also opened the second set with the first point. The score climbed to 10-10 before Catherine Maffei's kill ignited a 4-0 NYU run and the Violets never surrended the lead. The advantage grew to as many as seven points, and the set ended on a combined block from Maffei and Taylor Odum.   

"We settled in after the first set and really put the pressure back on their side," said Head Coach Andrew Brown. "And, it was a battle from there on out."   

The pivotal third set was tied 5-5 when the Blue Jays recorded the next four points. Another Maffei kill ended the streak, but Hopkins expanded its lead to as many as nine points. Trailing 17-8, NYU went on a 15-4 run to take a 23-21 lead. The Blue Jays countered with the next two points to knot things up and the teams continued to trade points until a Hopkins service ace and kill ended the set.    

"Our team just needs to get more comfortable in those tight games down the stretch," Brown explained. 

Hopkins sprinted out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, but NYU rallied to make it 5-5. The Blue Jays scored the next four points, but the Violets rebounded to take the next three and eventually tie the score at 10-10. However, Hopkins registered the next three points and held the lead for good.

Maffei finished with 11 kills, while Grace Nelson tallied a match-high 14. Odum and Jessica Spierenburg each had eight.

Ava Launsbach (25) and Dominique Drust (20) each had double-digit assists, while Yooni Park recorded a match-high 24 digs. 

"This was validation of what we're capable of doing," Brown added. "Now it's about making it consistent."  

The Violets will seek that consistency back on the court tomorrow when they face both the University of California, Santa Cruz (12:30pm) and #8 MIT (5:30pm) at the Paulson Center.