The New York University women's volleyball team closed out the NYU Season-Opening Invitational on Saturday, September 12, at the Paulson Center in Manhattan by splitting matches against the University of St. Thomas (TX) and Emerson College.
The Violets opened the day with a four-set victory over St. Thomas (25-15, 25-21, 20-25, 26-24), before falling to Emerson (16-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13).
Match One: NYU 3, St. Thomas (TX) 1
In the opening set against St. Thomas (TX), both teams were neck and neck at 11-11 before the Violets pulled ahead with a 12-point run. Three consecutive kills by
Grace Nelson propelled NYU on a run to an eventual victory.
The Violets never trailed in the second frame, starting with a 9-3 lead before the Celts cut the deficit to one. But, NYU sustained their lead, ending the set in their favor.
NYU exchanged points with St. Thomas (TX) in the third stanza tied at 17-17 before the Celts pulled ahead to win the set.
The fourth set was also competitive, tied 19-19 before back-to-back blocks from
Coco Barton clinched the match.
Match Two: Emerson 3, NYU 2
In the opening set against Emerson, NYU jumped out early to a 10-5 lead before separating themselves further with consecutive kills from
Tatum Chase and Nelson, respectively. The Violets maintained the lead to take the set.
Trailing 10-6 in the second stanza, NYU scored the next six of eight points to even the score. Though the Violets did win back-to-back rallies, the Lions won the two final points to take the set.
NYU erased a persistent six-point deficit to even the score 21-21 in set three. The teams traded points before
Alden Roberts closed out the set with a setter dump.
The Lions led the way early in the fourth frame six points ahead before the Violets evened the score at 12-12. NYU battled it out, but fell short again, losing set three.
The Violets trailed throughout the fifth set, suffering from a four-point deficit early on. NYU chipped away to come within one but just fell short.
Nelson led the Violets in kills with 30 over the two matches, while
Kate Scherlacher recorded 49 assists.
Lily Leung had another solid defensive performance, putting up 27 digs.
"We have to clean it up this week." said Head Coach
Andrew Brown. "Everyone that came off our bench worked extremely hard, it shows how much depth we have within this program."
The Violets take the court next in the John A. Paulson Center, hosting the NYU Mid-September Invitational on September 18 and 19. NYU's first match is on Friday, September 18, at 4:30 p.m. against Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
