The NYU women’s volleyball team added two more wins to its record this past weekend, bringing them to a staggering 8-2. The team’s success is attributable to its deep roster, high attack percentages and its newfound team chemistry with eight new players. 

Despite suffering a tough-fought loss in four sets  — 26-28, 19-25, 25-20, 14-25 — to the Colby College Mule’s on Sunday, the Violets showed out for an impressive and tight-packed weekend of volleyball. After losing the first set in matches against William Paterson University and the University of Scranton on Saturday, the Violets won in four sets against both teams.

The Violets struggled in the opening set against William Paterson, going down 14-25. With the score tied at 12-12, William Paterson scored 10 consecutive points, which NYU failed to overcome. 

“In the first set, we struggled,” head coach Andrew Brown said. During the set break, Brown reminded the team of its success in practice, helping them bounce back. From then on, the team was forced to find their rhythm, closing the next three sets 25-6, 25-19 and 25-7. An almost identical trend happened in the Scranton match, although the scores were slightly closer: 21-25, 25-16, 26-24 and 25-21. 

“We’ve been very veteran-heavy the last couple years, which has been amazing,” Brown said. “But now that we are flipped, a lot of our team are freshmen and sophomores.” 

With just two seniors on the roster this year, the Violets’ rotation relies heavily on the underclassmen and their ability to step up during intense moments.  

“They’ve responded really well to it, and they want to be learners,” Brown said.

The team’s six-hitter, two-setter strategy leaves plenty of room for younger players to get their minutes and prove themselves. The intention of a six-two game plan is to maximize the team’s chances to get a kill in every rotation during the set. When you have a roster filled with as many fresh arms as the Violets do, there’s no question that it’s been successful. 

For veteran setters, senior Dominique Drust and junior Ava Launsbach, there’s an offensive option in each hitting position. Sophomore outside hitter Grace Nelson averaged 15 kills a match over the course of the tournament, and her counterpart, sophomore outside hitter Chloe Lemons, hit a season-high of 15 kills in the Scranton match. First-year right side Chloe Hynes also had an impressive showing over the weekend averaging eight kills per match. 

Despite the supposed inexperience of the roster on paper, the ultimate objective has not changed for Brown and the team.

“The goals haven’t really shifted,” Brown said. “If anything, we’ve increased them, we want to be in the hunt for our conference championship. Elite Eight is the goal every year, because if you get there, it’s anyone’s national championship to win.” 

Brown thinks the promising beginning of the season leaves the young team in a good position for more career-defining moments throughout the semester. 

“Communication is the key,” Brown said. “That’s when we play our best volleyball, when we’re very vocal, because we are linked with each other.” 

If you’ve been missing out on the Violets in action, and you only plan on coming to one game this season, let it be next weekend’s “Scholar’s Classic” on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Paulson Center. The Violets will head up against Johns Hopkins University first, then Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California-Santa Cruz on Saturday — all academically rigorous institutions in which the team jokes that NYU players and students are not only familiar with, but also probably considered attending. 

“The joke about next weekend is that we have our version of a scholar classic, MIT is coming and John Hopkins,” said Brown. “Unbelievable teams, all nationally ranked. So I think that would be really fun Friday night. You know, an awesome way to start your Friday evening!” 

There will be plenty of brain power to go around in the Paulson Center this weekend, so it will certainly be an appropriate remedy to finishing your growing stack of papers, as well as leave you unequivocally inspired. 

“We’ll have unbelievable talent in our gym,” Brown said. “It’s not just about volleyball. You’re watching physicists and doctors and lawyers and future CEOs just battling it out in a sport they love.”

Contact Levi Langley at [email protected].