The New York University women's volleyball team split a pair of matches, falling to No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before defeating No. 11 Ithaca College, Saturday, September 19, at the John A. Paulson Center.
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The Violets battled the Engineers through four sets before dropping the match (25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18), then bounced back against the Bombers to earn a four-set victory (25-16, 23-25, 28-26, 25-22).
"Our preparation was the key to our success," said Head Coach
Andrew Brown, "this is a great weekend to set the tone for what is ahead."
In the first match of the day
NYU battled through a back-and-forth opening set against MIT. The Engineers created a five-point lead at 16-11 before the Violets answered with four straight points to pull within one. NYU later tied the set at 17-17, but MIT regained control late to take the opening set.
After falling behind early in set two, the Violets took its first lead of the match behind consecutive service aces from
Kate Scherlacher and blocks from
Tatum Chase and
Sienna Morales. The Violets maintained the advantage to claim the second frame.
In the third stanza, NYU jumped out to a five-point lead behind back-to-back kills from
Grace Nelson. MIT cut the deficit to three, but consecutive kills from
Lucianna Welles kept the Violets ahead before the Engineers closed on a seven-point run to take the set.
NYU battled back from an early deficit, tying the set at 7-7. MIT regained control, leading 16-11 before closing out the set.
The opening frame of the second match saw the Violets battle the Bombers back from a four-point deficit to even the score at 5-5. NYU regained control and built a 20-13 advantage before closing out the first set.
The second set featured a back-and-forth battle, with
Felicia Wu sparking NYU early with back-to-back service aces. Welles followed with consecutive kills to give the Violets an 18-12 advantage, but Ithaca battled back late to even the score at 23-23 and ultimately take the set.
Another back-and-forth battle in the third set tied the teams at 16-16 before NYU pulled ahead, 21-19. The Bombers answered to knot the score, but the Violets regained the lead and held on for set victory.
"W
e did a good job of feeling that pressure, being behind, and still pushing to try to get ahead and to capitalize," said Head Coach Brown on the third set.
In the final set, the Violets took control early and built an 13-8 advantage behind three consecutive kills from
Coco Barton. NYU maintained its lead throughout the set before closing out the match
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Nelson led the Violets with 37 kills across the two matches, while Morales led the team with 12 blocks and
Lily Leung anchored the defense with 46 digs. Scherlacher contributed eight aces and 48 assists, with
Alden Roberts adding 47 assists.
The Violets will look ahead to the UAA Round Robin this weekend in Rochester, N.Y. NYU's first of two matches begins at 1 p.m. Saturday against Brandeis University.
