In their second University Athletic Association round robin of the year, the women’s volleyball team struggled but improved on their last outing, picking up one win to go with three losses. The team showed resilience after losing the first three and came back to win their last game against Brandeis University on Sunday.

On Saturday the Violets (11-13) were swept in straight sets by both Case Western University (19-4) and Carnegie Mellon University (20-4). Freshman outside hitter Shelby King led the way in game one with 11 kills, while senior captain Nicole Frias topped the stat line in game two with eight kills.

The Violets started off day two of the UAA Round Robin in Cleveland, Ohio with a match against Emory University (25-2). They fought hard, but suffered a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-21, 25-15) by the Eagles.

Instead of accepting defeat, NYU battled back to glory later in the day. The Violets’ second match was a 3-1 victory (25-27, 25-17, 25-11, 25-20) over Brandeis University (3-19). The Judges were unable to contain freshman outside hitter Shelby King, who totaled 17 kills and 11 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Stephanie Mao, sophomore libero Brooke Tannahill and senior middle blocker Nicole Frias helped her out with great matches. Mao contributed a career-best 18 digs, Tannahill finished with three aces and Frias totalled 10 kills and 4.5 blocks for the match. Sophomore Rayne Ellis spoke to how close the Violets get while seemingly being unable to close out matches.

“We have some tough competition in our conference that we always compete against,” Ellis said. “But in crucial moments we let everything fall through our fingers and that’s why we can never pull out these crucial wins.”

Coach Jolie Ward remained positive after the match, despite the team’s three losses. She’ll need the team to keep consistent focus and effort this Friday, Oct. 23 when her Violets take on the University of Scranton. The upcoming match, hosted by Rowan University, will take place at 7 p.m. in Glassboro, NJ.

A version of this article appeared in the Oct. 19 print edition. Email Kyle Ryan at [email protected].