Baseball
The baseball team beat Dominican University on Feb. 23, in the two teams’ only matchup of the season. The Violets took the lead in the top of the third inning and never gave it up, defeating the Stars 11-4. Graduate student Nick Argenziano led NYU’s scoring with two home runs, four RBIs and four runs. Graduate student Nate Pallotta posted one home run and four RBIs, and senior Kosta Mocklis hit one home run and earned two RBIs.
On Feb. 28 the Violets dropped a doubleheader at Kean University, losing 7-11 in the first game and 2-7 in the second. In the first game, graduate student Cam Dunn registered one home run, one RBI and two runs in the first game, and Pallotta earned one RBI and one sacrifice fly in the second game.
The team competed in its home opener on Saturday against Sage College, losing 4-12. Mocklis registered two RBIs, and Argenziano, Pallotta, first-year Aidan Howladar and sophomore Jack Kelman earned the Violets four runs.
NYU competes next on Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, in back-to-back doubleheaders against Dean College at home at the Staten Island University Hospital Community Park.
Basketball
Sunday, Feb. 23 was Senior Day for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Both teams defeated Case Western Reserve University, finishing out their at-home regular seasons.
The men’s team celebrated its nine graduating team members — seniors Kawika Akina and Zay Freeney, and graduate students Zach Brooker, Tristan How, Josh Menard, Emmanuel Onuama, Chuma Oyigbo, Brock Susko and Jack Stone. The men defeated CRWU 83-55, and How led the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The team honored the five graduating members of the women’s team, graduate students Jamie Behar and Natalie Bruns, and seniors Mary Kate Fahey, Belle Pellecchia and Chloe Teter before the women’s 86-62 win over CWRU. Pellecchia scored 20 points, junior Caroline Peper scored 17 and Bruns scored 16, with eight assists and five blocks.
On Saturday, March 1, the teams traveled to Waltham, MA to finish out the regular season with wins against Brandeis University.
The men defeated Brandeis 94-76, boosting their record to 24-1 for the season and 13-1 in conference — a program best. Susko led the team with 27 points, and How recorded 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Saturday’s win brought the women to 56 consecutive wins, going 25-0 this season and 14-0 in the UAA. Peper scored a game-high 21 points, and Bruns added 17 points, seven rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.
Postseason play begins March 7, and the Violets will find out where and who they will compete against on Monday during the NCAA Selection Show.
Fencing
The men’s and women’s fencing teams competed at their last regular season event on Sunday, the Long Island University Shark Showdown.
The men fenced three rounds, beating Wagner College 16-11, Lafayette College 19-8 and Long Island University 21-6. Senior Oliver Hu and first-year Ansh Ghayalod each went 9-0 in foil and saber, respectively. Junior Farr Dickson posted an 8-1 record in foil, and first-year Anders Yu went 7-2.
The women fenced in four rounds, beating Wagner 18-9, Yeshiva University 27-0, Lafayette 23-4 and LIU 16-11. Sophomore Lily Papadakis went 9-3 in epee, senior Sharon Ni and first-year Greta Yuan went 6-0 in saber, and sophomore Aurora Aschettino and senior Annika Santos posted 8-1 records in foil.
The teams travel to Medford, MA for the NCAA Regional Championship on March 9.
Swimming & Diving
Seven divers on the men’s and women’s diving teams traveled to Springfield College for the NCAA Regional Championships on Friday and Saturday. Regionals are held to determine which divers will compete at the NCAA Division III Championships at the end of March.
Senior Issara Schmidt won the women’s 3-meter dive and placed second in the 1-meter, putting her in a great position to make the cut for nationals. First-year Katherine Taylor, sophomore Maya Williams and juniors Meera Kasturi and Isabella Reyes all placed in the top 15 out of 29 divers in the 1-meter and in the top 17 in the 3-meter.
On the men’s side, William Hopkins placed 10th in the 3-meter and eighth in the 1-meter, and Mitchell Mortenson took 13th in the 3-meter.
Official qualifiers will be announced on March 3, and swimming and diving nationals will take place March 19-22 in Greensboro, NC.
Tennis
NYU’s women’s tennis team played its second match-up of the spring season on Sunday, Feb. 23, swiftly defeating Union College 6-1 in Schenectady, NY.
The Violets took the win in all three doubles matches, with senior Jimena Menendez and first-year Emma Kast finishing best of the pairs with a 6-2 win. In her singles match, Menendez continued to lead with another straight-set victory, winning comfortably 6-0 and 6-3.
The women’s team continued its spring campaign in Swarthmore, PA on Saturday, March 1, dropping their first dual match of the season 2-5 to Swarthmore College.
Menendez won both her singles and doubles matches on Saturday, boasting 6-4 and 6-3 victories in singles and a 6-4 win with first-year Siona Vallabhaneni in doubles. First-year Victoria Wang also contributed to NYU’s point count with a 6-1, 6-3 win, putting her at the No. 3 singles spot.
The Violets will face the Rochester Institute of Technology next week on Saturday, March 8 at NYU’s home stadium in the Bronx.
The NYU men’s tennis team defeated Union College on Sunday, Feb. 23 in a 4-3 victory. The Violets took the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spots with 6-1 and 6-3 victories. First-year Bryan Hui, who held a No. 2 doubles spot, first put NYU on the board for singles with a 6-4, 6-0 straight-set win. Junior Boren Zheng, who is No. 1 for both doubles and singles, posted a 6-2, 7-5 win in singles.
Junior Cooper Kline secured the outright win for the Violets at the No. 6 singles spot in his very first collegiate appearance — clinching a 7-6, 6-4 in the first win of his NYU career.
The Violets will head up against Assumption University on Sunday, March 2 in the Bronx.
Track & Field
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Chicago to compete in the UAA Conference Championships on Saturday. The competition, hosted by the University of Chicago, is a two-day event and is the final UAA meet-up of the year, finishing out the regular season on Sunday.
NYU’s top event on Saturday was the 60m dash, with three Violets from both the men’s and women’s teams earning personal bests in the preliminary round and two moving on to Sunday’s final round. Junior Travis Perry finished seventh, recording a season-best of 7.02, and senior Matt Marcelo notched a new personal record of 7.26.
On the women’s team, sophomore Seneca Guneratne and junior Dasha Jackson, both moved on to Sunday’s final. Guneratne took eighth in the 60m dash with a time of 8.05, and Jackson placed fourth in the 60m hurdles, posting 9.40.
The distance team, on both the women’s and men’s sides, posted promising results for Sunday’s final. Sophomore Grace Rowley posted a sixth-place finish in the 5,000m run, and first-year Gianna Dawson fifth in the 800m run. The women’s distance medley relay, including Dawson, senior Katherine Cheng, graduate student Katherine Cochran and junior Janie Cooper, placed third with a time of 12:01.86. Junior Aleksander Jopek, first-year Everett Jania, and sophomores William Cornick and Liam Hagerty placed sixth overall in the men’s medley, finishing 10:47.77.
The final day of the UAA Championships is Sunday, March 2.
Volleyball
The men’s volleyball team swept both of its opponents this weekend: Elmira College on Friday and Hobart College on Saturday, the team’s Senior Day.
Friday’s game went 25-11, 25-21, 25-17, an impressive sweep for the Violets, as Elmira came into the match with a 13-1 record. Sophomore Devyn Nguyen recorded 21 assists and senior Lucas Osiecki registered 11 kills. Osiecki also had a match-high six aces, taking the Violets on a seven-point run with five consecutive service aces.
Before Saturday’s match began, the Violets celebrated the five graduating seniors: Luke Boyer, Buddy Cohen, Ry Kagan, Zach Knudsen and Osiecki. Nguyen — the United Volleyball Conference’s leader in assists — registered 28, Boyer recorded 11 kills and sophomore Emerson Evans had 10 kills and a match-high eight digs.
The Violets are 17-0 this season and 3-0 in conference, and take to the court next on March 12 at State University of New York, New Paltz.
Wrestling
The NYU wrestling team competed in the NCAA Division III Regionals on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1, in Mechanicsburg, PA at Messiah University. The regional event was held solely for Region III teams within the division, determining which wrestlers in each weight class will move on to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
Sophomore Jacob Venezia, first-year Tyler Kadish, senior Cooper Pontelandolfo and graduate student Trent Furman all ended the first day undefeated, with Furman finishing the competition in fourth place and Kadish ending in fifth place.
Pontelandolfo and Venezia qualified for nationals and will represent NYU in Providence, RI on March 14 and 15. Pontelandolfo won the 157-pound weight class title, earning him his fourth consecutive trip to Nationals. Venezia placed second in the 133-pound weight class.
Contact Sidney Snider at [email protected].
