The New York University women's volleyball team swept a pair of matches on Saturday, October 4, at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan.

The first match of the day between NYU and William Smith College, who are both receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, ended with the Violets sweeping the Herons 25-20, 25-21, 25-13. 

The Violets then completed the afternoon by defeating Manattanville 25-15, 27-25, 25-16.

In the opening match, neither team could pull away to start the first set. Before the 13th and final tie at 15-15, the maximum lead for either team was two points. The Violets pulled away with a three-point run and took the lead for good. NYU led by as many as six points at 23-17. William Smith went on a three-point run of their own to make the score 24-20, but a kill from Grace Nelson closed out the first-set victory for NYU. 

The Violets never trailed in the second set as their lead grew to as many as 10 points at 20-10. NYU looked poised to cruise through the final five points but the Herons took nine of the next 12 points, closing the gap to 23-19. The Violets then capitalized off two errors from William Smith to secure the set. 

NYU quickly took a commanding 11-2 lead in the third set and never looked back, remaining at least seven points ahead the rest of the way. Coco Barton closed out the match with her seventh kill as the Violets' offense hit .393 on the set. 

Jessica Spierenburg led the Violets in both kills (12) and blocks (5). Kaitlyn Sato recorded double-digit digs with 10 while Ava Launsbach added eight to go with a team-high 22 assists.

"We knew this was going to be a challenge and that we had to set the tone. We did a great job not letting them feel comfortable even when they scored," said Head Coach Andrew Brown. "When we faced more pressure, that's when we excelled." 

In the match versus Manhattanville, the Valiants jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the opener before a four-point run from the Violets tied it back up at 6-6. NYU then went on a six-point run that included two service aces from Spierenburg to permanently take the lead 12-7, riding the momentum to a first-set victory.  

The Violets found themselves in a familiar 6-2 deficit to begin the second stanza, but once again tied it up, this time at 7-7. Three additional points gave NYU the lead, which it held onto until Manhattanville came back to take a 25-24 lead. NYU staved off the set point and Sarah Beville came up clutch with back-to-back service aces to finish out the set. 

NYU closed out the match with a dominant third set victory, never trailing once. Barton shored up the defense, recording seven blocks in set three alone.

13 Violets recorded kills in the match while Beville tallied five service aces. Sato put forward another double-digit dig performance (14) and Launsbach recorded a double-double with digs (13) and assists (18). 

"Manhanttanville was a very different style of play and it took us a little bit of time to figure out what we needed to do strategically," said Brown. "Eventually we made the right switch and earned the win."

Prior to the first match, Launsbach was honored with a commemorative ball for reaching 2,000 career assists during last weekend's University Athletic Association Round Robin. She is only the fourth player in NYU program history to reach the mark. 

"For her to be able to reach that milestone at this point in her career shows the level of player she is and the level of her leadership," said Brown. "Ava comes in every day and produces and it's really special for this team."

The Violets return to action tomorrow when they host #24-ranked Wesleyan University at the Paulson Center. First serve is set for 2:00pm.