The #7-ranked New York University men's volleyball team defeated Rutgers University-Newark (receiving votes) on Tuesday, February 3, at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan. 

In a match for the ages, the Violets pulled out the four-setter 25-18, 25-20, 41-43, 25-17.

After wining the first two sets, NYU fell behind 4-2 in the third.

Eight ties ensued.

At 11-11, Rutgers Newark scored the next three points and eventually increased its lead to five. The Violets rallied and tied the set at 23-23.

But...then...the set went on and on and on. Each team had several chances to win it, but neither could do the trick....until Rutgers Newark broke the 41-41 tie by scoring the final two points and ending the longest set in NYU program history.

The set was just four points off the longest set in NCAA Division III history (88 points).

In the anti-climatic(?) fourth set, the Violets quickly recovered and raced out to a 10-4 lead. The Scarlet Knights managed to pull within four, but the Violets increased its lead to as many as eight points to finish off the memorable victory.  

"I wanted to see how they would react to a set like that," said Head Coach Jose Pina. "I think we were able to react and extend the set because we were down five and we came all the way back."

In a tight first set, neither team led by more than two until the Violets snapped a 14-14 tie with four straight points. NYU never led by less than three the rest of the set.

NYU led 9-5 in the second set when the Scarlet Raiders went on a 4-0 run to tie things up. The Violets scored the next two points and never trailed again, extending their lead to as many as six on several occasions.   

Emerson Evans led all players with 20 kills. Charlie Clifford contributed 17 kills. Cade Miller finished with 6.0 total blocks and Devyn Nguyen totaled 45 assists. 

The Violets return to action when they host a tri-meet this Saturday, February 7, back at the Paulson Center. NYU faces Misericorda University at 3:00pm and Kean University at 8:00pm.