On Saturday, March 7, the NYU women’s tennis team defeated Southern Virginia University 8-1. The Violets improved to 4-0, handing the Knights their third loss of the season. The team started doubles play strong with three wins; Stern junior Anna Buraya and Liberal Studies first-year Anastasiia Balyk won the first match 8-0, CAS senior Coco Kulle and Stern senior Judy Kam won the second match 8-0 and Stern senior Rupa Ganesh and Gallatin junior Kate Shaffer won the third match 8-1. The Violets continued to dominate in singles, only losing one match.
The Violets return to action on March 13 against The College of New Jersey.
On Saturday, March 7, the NYU men’s tennis team picked up their first victory of the season, defeating Southern Virginia University 5-4. Stern senior Vishal Walia and CAS sophomore Lucas Biondi provided the Violets with their only doubles victory. In singles play, Walia won his match 6-3, 6-1, CAS junior Rahul Das won his match 6-4, 6-4, Biondi won his match 6-4, 6-2 and CAS senior Joshua Piatos won his match 6-1, 7-5.
The Violets return to action on March 13 against The College of New Jersey.
NYU opened play in the NCAA tournament on Friday, March 6 with a victory against Emmanuel University 81-62. The Violets were clinging to a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Violets scored the first five points to start the fourth quarter, never allowing the Saints to come back. The leaders for the Violets were Steinhardt junior Janean Cuffee with 24 points, Cuffee and Steinhardt first-year Jenny Walker with seven rebounds and CAS senior Annie Barrett with eight assists.
On Saturday, March 7, NYU lost to Bowdoin College 86-67. The Violets are now eliminated from the postseason after reaching the second round. At the end of the first quarter, NYU led by one, but the team could not survive the Polar Bears’ second-quarter run, where they outscored the Violets 29-8. Violet leaders included Cuffee with 24 points, Walker with six rebounds and Barrett with seven assists.
The Violets finished the season with a 21-6 overall record.
The men’s volleyball team lost their second straight game on Monday, March 2, losing to North Central College 3-2. After losing the first set 25-18, NYU won the next two sets 25-21 and 25-18. The Cardinals then blew out the Violets 25-17 and in the final set, after a 17-17 tie, the Cardinals scored two straight points, winning 19-17. The leaders for the Violets were Stern senior Alex Li with 14 kills, CAS senior Matin Bikdeli with 51 assists and CAS senior Connor Keowen with eight digs.
The Violets bounced back with a 3-0 victory against Elmira College, defeating the Soaring Eagles 25-10, 25-21 and 25-16. NYU hit .338 while holding Elmire College to a .037 attacking percentage. CAS senior Evan Lindley led the team with eight kills and 10 digs and Stern sophomore Ryan Whealen tallied 25 assists.
The Violets play New Paltz on March 11.
On Thursday, March 5, the NYU baseball team lost to William Paterson University 7-2. The Pioneers did most of their damage early in the game, scoring three runs in the first inning, one run in the second inning and two runs in the fourth inning. Stern senior Ford Ladd received the loss, pitching five innings and allowing six runs. Stern senior Coltrane Tait and Stern first-year Michael Wang each had an RBI apiece.
On Sunday, March 8, the Violets bounced back with a 12-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader against Stockton University. The Violets put the game out of reach early, scoring four runs in the first and second inning. SPS junior Gabe Golob had an impressive outing, pitching 7.2 innings, allowing one run and striking out four batters. On offense, Tait shined with five RBIs.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Violets defeated the Ospreys 12 -10. The game was tied at 5-5 going into the eighth inning, but the Violets scored four runs in the eighth inning and three runs in the ninth inning to take the lead. CAS junior Grant Otto led the Violets with three RBIs and Tandon sophomore John Gassler received the victory, pitching two scoreless innings.
The Violets face off against John Jay College on March 9.
On Sunday, March 8, the NYU softball team lost the first game of a doubleheader to the University of Scranton 9-1. The Violets took an early lead in the first inning with an RBI single from Stern senior Caroline Saccacio. However, the Violets only tallied two more hits for the rest of the game. The University of Scranton took the lead in the third inning, scoring four runs. In the following inning, the University of Scranton put the game out of reach by scoring five more runs. Stern sophomore Maggie Swan received the loss, pitching 3.2 innings and allowing nine runs.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Violets lost to the University of Scranton 9-5. The University of Scranton scored early, tallying five runs in the first inning and three runs in the second inning. The Violets scored four runs in the third inning, but they were never able to come back. Gallatin junior Eryn Onodera received the loss, pitching one inning and allowing eight runs.
The Violets return to action on March 10 against Rutgers-Newark.
On Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, the men and women’s track and field team competed at the All-Atlantic Region Indoor Championships. For the men’s team, the main standout was CAS first-year Jon Diaz, who finished in fifth place in the 800-meter finals. Liberal Studies first-year Kamden Martin finished in seventh place in the 60-meter finals. Overall, the men’s team finished in 21st place.
For the women’s team, the main highlight was CAS first-year Isre’al Conerly, who finished in fifth place in both the 200-meter and 400-meter finals. Other top-10 finishers included CAS senior Evelyn Nkanga, who finished in sixth place in the 200-meter finals, CAS sophomore Athina Zodi, who finished in seventh place in the 3,000-meter finals and Tandon graduate student Rebecca MacLeod, who finished in 10th place in the 800-meter finals. Overall, the women’s team finished in 15th place.
Select members from the men’s and women’s team will compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13 and March 14 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
A version of this article appears in the Monday, Mar. 9, 2020, print edition. Email Arvind Sriram at [email protected].
