For the second consecutive year, the NYU women’s volleyball team won the NYU Invitational, bringing the Violets to a 6-1 record (0.857) for the season so far. The tournament was held on Friday, Sept. 9, to Saturday, Sept. 10.

NYU handed the Wheaton College Lyons their first loss of the season in a clean sweep on Friday. The Violets made quick work of the Lyons in the first two sets, holding them to eight and 15 points, respectively, but during the final set, the Lyons quickly took the lead. The Violets were able to close the gap, and then went on a four-point run to secure the sweep. 

This came in large part thanks to seven kills, including the final match point, made during the set by senior outside hitter Haley Holz, who led the team with 13 total kills in the match. Holz hit 0.333, while the Violets as a team hit 0.220 in stark contrast with Wheaton’s -0.049. Sophomore setter Dominique Drust led the team in assists, while sophomore libero Lindsey Hirano again dominated defensively with a team-leading 24 digs.

On Saturday, the Violets first swept DeSales University in the afternoon and kept the Bulldogs to 20 points or less across all three sets. While the first set was more competitive, the Violets ended the game with a 10-0 push started off by a kill from sophomore middle back Leela Anvekar. The second set was a runaway, during which Holz hit five straight aces. The third set began with a DeSales advantage, but NYU eventually prevailed.

Holz led the Violets with 11 kills while hitting 0.333, and first-year middle back Jessica Spierenburg contributed five kills. Senior setter Nicole Dao set up the offense with a leading 12 assists along with three aces, and Hirano again led the team with 16 digs. Across three sets, DeSales hit only 0.024 to the Violets’ 0.250. 

Amherst was swept later that afternoon, hitting 0.068 against the Violets across the three sets. The second was secured by a kill from sophomore outside hitter Olivia Lewandowski to break a 23-all tie, and the third was highlighted by an overwhelming 18 team kills while hitting. For her sixth match in a row, Holz hit 12 kills, and Drust again led the team with 18 assists. Hirano’s 19 digs continues her streak of 10-plus digs per match.

The Violets’ domination in the tournament was similar to what they displayed last year as the springboard to a 28-2 season. They will next play in the University Athletic Associations’ Round Robin #1 held in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17-18. NYU will first face Washington University in St. Louis (8-0) at 12 p.m. (CST) and Brandeis University (4-1) at 2 p.m. (CST), before concluding with Carnegie Mellon University (5-1) the following day at 12 p.m. (CST).

Contact Jason Alpert-Wisnia at [email protected].