Cross Country
The No. 18 ranked men’s and No. 1 ranked women’s cross-country teams placed second in their respective events at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational hosted by Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY on Saturday, Sept. 14.
In the women’s 5K event, senior Katherine Cheng finished fourth overall with a new personal best time of 19:22.6. First-year Lindsay Guthrie was the Violets’ next finisher in 10th place with a 19:56.1. Junior Emily Castles notched a personal best as well, with a 20:01.6 time. First-years Rina Kurihara and Ava Sieckmann closed out the Violets’ group with a 20:45.5 and 21:44.2, respectively.
First-year Micah Taffet was first over the line for the Violets’ and eighth overall in the men’s 6K event with a time of 20:04.7. Fellow first-year Jacob Christy was three seconds behind in 10th place with a 20:07.6 time. Vito Alpeza and Trey Davidson, also first-years, were next for the Violets in 14th and 15th with times of 20:31.6 and 20:32.5, respectively.
Senior Sam Frank and sophomore William Cornick set new personal bests. Frank finished the 6k with a time of 21:29.0 and Cornick at 21:31.0. They rounded out the Violets’ group in 36th and 37th, respectively.
Both teams continue their campaigns in Terre Haute, IN next Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Indiana State John McNichols Cross Country Invite.
Golf
The men’s and women’s golf teams teed off their 2024-25 season at the University Athletic Association Championships in Batavia, OH, on Sept. 9 and 10.
The men’s team was defeated 0-3 by Emory University on Monday in the first round, and 0-4.5 to Carnegie Mellon University on Tuesday in the second round to tie third overall with the University of Rochester.
After a tough round of golf on Monday, only sophomore Ethan Yang drew his match-up. On Tuesday, first-year Oscar Uribe was a stroke up on the 13th hole, but lost the lead by one stroke at the end of the round. The Violets were defeated in the remaining match-ups.
The women’s team was defeated 1-3 by Carnegie Mellon on Monday, with first-year Naomi Tan the only Violet to win her matchup.
On Tuesday, the Violets fell 2-3 to Washington University-St. Louis. Junior Srishti Dhurandhar and Tan won their respective matchups, earning Tan a spot on the All-Tournament Team. The Violets finished fourth in the tournament and will play at the George Phinney Classic hosted by Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT this weekend.
The men’s team returned to action at the Duke Nelson Invitational, hosted by Middlebury College on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14-15. The Violets finished 13th of 23 participating teams, with sophomore Jomyuth Luangtana-Anan leading the Violets in 18th place, finishing eight strokes over the course par. First-year Shray Patel notched a 12 over par in 40th place, followed by junior Ishan Shroff and Uribe who tied for 63rd place with 15 over par. Junior Ryan Leung completed the Violets’ contingent in 77th place, 17 strokes over par.
The men’s team will play in the NCAA Division III Preview at the Midvale Country Club in Penfield, NY, on Sept. 21-23.
Tennis
The men’s and women’s tennis teams kicked off their season with The College of New Jersey Invitation on Sept. 14 and 15.
On Saturday, both teams played 10 single matches and four double matches.The men’s team won eight of its single matches, with first-years Bryan Hui and Tomas Medina, sophomore Louis Frowein, juniors Boren Zheng and Devan Sabapathy and seniors Zachary Freier and Ryan Shayani.
The men’s team also won three of its doubles matches with Frowein and graduate student Jingyuan Chen, Freier and first-year Nithin Sankar, and Medina and Shayani pairing up.
The women’s team swept its singles matches 10-0 with first-years Aileen Yu, Emma Kast, Siona Vallabhaneni and Victoria Wang, sophomore Diana Pujals, junior Kendall Kamerschen, seniors Glenda Boeker and Jimena Menendez, and graduate students Jade Gautier and Isabella Hartman.
Doubles pairs Menendez and Hartman, Wang and Vallabhaneni, and senior Hannah Chang and first-year Norah Staunton guided the women’s team to its three doubles-match victories.
The next day, the men’s team played four doubles and nine singles matches, while the women’s played six doubles and nine singles matches to finish the invitational.
The men’s team lost all four doubles matches, but performed well in the singles, where Freier, Hui, Medina, Zheng, Chen and senior Ronak Khara all won their matches.
16 players from the women’s tennis team competed on Sunday, winning four doubles matches and seven singles matches. Menendez and Hartman won their match 7-5, while Wang and Vallabhaneni, Chang and Staunton, and Yu and Kast all recorded wins as well.
Menendez, Vallabhaneni, Wang and Yu continued their winning streaks in the singles matches, with wins recorded by Kamerschen, Boeker and Gautier as well.
The men’s team play in the Haverford/Swarthmore Invite on Sept. 21-22 in Swarthmore, PA.
The women’s team travels to Saratoga Springs, NY to play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships on Sept. 20-22.
Soccer
Continuing its unbeaten streak, the No. 19 ranked women’s soccer team ended its game against Farmingdale State College 0-0. The team’s overall record is now two wins and three draws, after its third goalless draw of the season.
Despite not scoring in the game, the Violets had 17 shots, with eight on target. The team also had a strong defensive performance, only allowing eight shots from Farmingdale. Graduate student goalkeeper Riley Felsher saved all four shots on goal, earning her fourth clean sheet of the season. The Violets’ next game is on Sept. 18, away at William Paterson University.
The men’s soccer team played two games this week — a win against St. Joseph’s University and a loss to Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. The games bring the team’s overall record to three wins, one draw and one loss.
In its game against St. Joseph’s on Sept. 11, the Violets continued the team’s unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 win.
The team conceded first in the 10th minute and only managed to take four shots in the first half, but improved in the second half and registered 11 shots.
In the 58th minute, junior defender Felix Dyckerhoff half-volleyed the ball into the net off of a corner from senior midfielder Ahmed Ibrahim. Less than a minute later, senior forward Bryce Lexow scored the go-ahead goal after taking a touch near the penalty spot and sliding the ball past the opposing keeper.
The Violets lost 2-3 against Penn State Harrisburg on Sept. 15, marking the team’s first loss of the season. The Violets started off strong with two goals in the first half. Lexow found the goal with a first-touch finish in the eighth minute, and junior midfielder Terra Nagai shot the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal just two minutes later.
Despite the strong start, the Violets conceded three goals in the second half, ending the team’s unbeaten run. Men’s soccer returns on Saturday, Sept. 21 when the team will face Drew University at home.
Volleyball
The women’s volleyball team fell from third to seventh rank in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Division III Poll after their Sept. 8 loss to Bowdoin College. The Violets bounced back in three home games this weekend with two wins and a loss. NYU is now 8-2.
The Violets emerged 3-1 victors in both games on Saturday, Sept. 14 against the William Paterson University Pioneers and the University of Scranton Royals at the Paulson Center.
The Pioneers dominated the first set 14-25, but NYU regained their rhythm and swept the second set 25-6 to tie the match. The third set saw the closest score between the two teams, where the Violets took an early 5-2 lead and managed to hold off William Paterson, ultimately winning the set 25-19.
It was all Violets in the fourth set as they stormed to a 16-3 lead with a trio of service aces by junior Ava Launsbach, leading NYU to win 25-7. Launsbach chipped in with game-high 21 assists as well, while sophomore Grace Nelson led in kills with 14.
NYU dropped their first set against the University of Scranton as well, losing 21-25. Yet again, the team managed to find form after the break, winning the next set 25-16. The Violets quickly went up 20-9 with a seven-point streak featuring three service aces and a pair of kills by Nelson.
The third set was a closer affair, with the Royals pushing the Violets to a 26-24 win. The lead exchanged hands seven times, but kills from first-year Chloe Hynes and Nelson put NYU at match-point.
In the fourth set, the Royals were leading 12-11, but a seven-point spell gave the Violets a lead that they never gave up. Two kills by Nelson and first-year Helena Foord’s service ace won the match.
Nelson led in the kills again with 16, closely followed by fellow sophomore Chloe Lemons with 15. Senior Dominique Drust led the match with 29 assists and contributed with 11 digs.
On Sunday, Sept. 15, the Violets were defeated for the second time by the Colby College Mules 1-3. The team was pushed hard by Colby in the first set, losing 26-28. With the score tied 17-17 in the second set, Colby scored four consecutive points to keep the lead and win 25-19.
The Violets came back in the third set, winning 25-20. Colby took an early 5-1 lead, but seven straight points earned the Violets a 10-6 lead, which they held onto for the rest of the set. In the fourth and final set, the Mules achieved a 20-9 lead. NYU only managed four more points before Colby won 25-14.
The Violets have a big weekend ahead of them, preparing to play third-ranked Johns Hopkins University on Friday, Sept. 20 at the Paulson Center. They play a double-header on Saturday, Sept. 21 against the University of California, Santa Cruz at 12:30 p.m. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 5:30 p.m. at home as well.
These will be the last matches before the Violets look to defend their 2023 UAA Championship title on Sept. 28 and 29, against Carnegie Mellon University, Brandeis University and the University of Chicago in conference play.
Contact Jonathan and Krish at [email protected].
