The NYU women’s volleyball team played its last home match of the regular season against Montclair State University, defeating the Red Hawks by set scores of 25-20, 25-12, 16-25 and 25-21 on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

The No. 6 Violets battled neck and neck with a 15-13 lead in the first set before pulling ahead with six consecutive points and finishing the set 25-20. 

Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Lindsey Hirano’s back-to-back aces kept the team ahead in the second frame at 11-4, followed by senior outside hitter Haley Holz’s ace that brought the score up to 17-6. The team’s steady and headfirst momentum kept them up 2-0 in the match. 

NYU faced a minor setback in the middle of the third, as the Red Hawks pulled ahead in a 5-0 run and ultimately finished the set 25-16. 

The Violets persisted in the fourth, preventing a fifth set as a kill from junior right side hitter Ella Weider gave NYU a 10-4 lead in the fourth set. Montclair met the challenge with a 6-2 spurt, but never tied or took the lead. The 25-21 victory in the final frame marked head coach Andrew Brown’s 100th career victory — a milestone for both the staff and team. 

Additional career highlights included 14 kills and a .522 hitting percentage from Weider, who tied her career best in a single game. Holz and sophomore outside hitter Olivia Lewandowski both delivered 13 kills each, followed by a total of 10 kills and .533 hitting average from Jessica Spierenburg. 

Sophomore setter Dominique Drust tied her career high with 24 assists, alongside sophomore setter Azrael Ning’s season-high 19 assists. Hirano posted 19 digs Tuesday night, never dipping below 10 digs during a match in her career. 

The University Athletic Association regular season title is already under the Violets’ belts for the second consecutive year, after their decisive victories in the final UAA Round Robin against the University of Rochester and Emory University. Now seeded No. 1, NYU will be hosting the 2022 UAA Volleyball Championship on the weekend of Nov. 4-5. 

The team will conclude its regular season in Baltimore, Maryland, against Johns Hopkins University and Virginia Wesleyan University on Saturday, Oct. 29. 

Contact Angelica Yang at [email protected].