The NYU men’s volleyball team, ranked eighth in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association dropped two of three matches this past weekend. The Violets (3-4) opened the trio of matches with a Thursday night victory over Baruch College at the ARC Arena in Manhattan, winning 3-1 in four sets. This would be a slow start for the Violets, who lost the opening set 23-25 but soon hit their stride, winning the next three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-12). In the end, NYU outplayed the Baruch Bearcats with a .243 hitting percentage compared to their opponents’ .039. Senior outside hitter Nick Benson led all players with 16 kills while junior outside hitter Chase Klein notched in 12 more. Sophomore middle hitter Chase Corbett also pitched in with a match-high of
six blocks.

On Friday, NYU competed against Springfield College at the Morgan Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts, losing three sets to one (26-24, 18-25, 19-25, 16-25). The Violets were able to win the initial set but could not keep the momentum going as they lost the next three against a very good Pride team. Benson led NYU with 13 total kills and four digs, while Corbett and senior middle hitter Phil Bueno also reached double digits in kills.

In their last match of the weekend, the Violets were topped in five sets by the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at the Morgan Classic. NYU proved a worthy opponent against the Division II team, keeping toe-to-toe throughout the match. The two took turns winning sets as they split the first four, setting up the night for a fifth and final set. But Puerto Rico had the last laugh, edging out the Violets 15-13.

In his first match of the year, senior opposite Colin LaPorte posted team-highs of 18.5 points and 16 kills against Puerto Rico. Corbett hit a team-best of .421 percent while junior setter Derrick Chiu recorded a match high of nine digs.

After a tough weekend competing in front of hundreds of fans, Sean Leahy still remains hopeful for his team.

“Going forward, we need to continue our hard work in practice to become more consistent in competition,” Leahy said. “We remain focused on our UVC [United Volleyball Conference] matches starting this weekend in Elmira, on a game-by-game basis.”

NYU’s next match will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 10 in Union, New Jersey, against Kean University.

A version of this article appeared in the Feb. 8 print edition. Email Brandon Herrera at [email protected].