The NYU women’s volleyball team competed this weekend in the first round robin of the UAA season in Cleveland, Ohio, where they beat their rival, Carnegie Mellon University. The victory helped improve the women’s record to 18-2.
NYU dominated Carnegie Mellon from the beginning, as evidenced by its straight set victory. After easing to a 25-20 first set win, the women’s team was tested more harshly in the second set, as they started down 1-7. But the Violets began to rally and eventually found themselves down at the score of 22-24. They dug deep and pulled out a 27-25 second set victory to establish a 2-0 lead over the Tartans.
“There was an obvious shift in urgency and focus that pushed us to play even better than we had been,” NYU captain and CAS junior Alexandria Mao said about what encouraged the rally in the second set.
The third set was more reminiscent of the first. After reaching a 10-10 tie in the third set, the women turned it up a notch and went on to win the next six points, effectively putting the match to an end.
“We played relaxed and confident. We were having fun on the court,” Mao said after the victory. “Usually it’s very tense because we hold each other and ourselves to such high standards, but this weekend we played for each other and focused on adding power as a team.”
Individually, several players stood out on the court for the women’s team. Mao led the team with 12 kills and 10 digs. LSP sophomore Nicole Frias had eight kills in the match and LSP sophomore Emily Moore provided 32 assists.
The victory proved essential for the morale of the team after they went 1-1 in their matches on the Saturday portion of the round robin. In a convincing 3-0 victory against the hosts, Case Western University, the Violets found themselves on the other side of the scoreboard, as they lost in straight sets to fourth ranked Emory University. The rankings are compiled by UAA coaches from around Division III volleyball.
The match on Sunday, which made the team’s record 2-1 in conference play, proved to be a quality stepping stone for the women’s team.
“The goal for the second half of the season is to reach the NCAA tournament,” Mao said.
The second round of the UAA round robin will be held in St. Louis on Oct. 16 and 17. The Violets will return home for Alumni Day on Oct. 24.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Oct. 7 print edition. Ferenc Puskas is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].