Baseball
The baseball team finished off its series with Dean College on Sunday, March 9. After winning the first two games the previous day, NYU added two victories on Sunday to complete the series sweep. The Violets earned a comeback victory in the first game, winning 10-6. Trailing for most of the game, the Violets relied on a strong eighth inning to complete the comeback. Highlighted by a two-run home run from graduate student Nate Pallotta, the Violets scored five runs in the eighth.
The Violets were dominant in the second game of the day, winning 17-2. The team had a well-rounded effort with 14 different players getting hits, and graduate student Joseph Argenziano earned his first win of the season from the mound.”
On Saturday, March 15, NYU hosted the City College of New York for a doubleheader, winning the first game 12-0. Senior Kosta Mocklis hit a home run and two doubles, and first-year CJ Franchini hit two doubles.
The second game of the day also ended with an NYU victory by a score of 13-3. Pallotta opened the scoring for NYU with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. First-year Aidain Howladar hit the first home run of his NYU career — a two-run shot. Junior Aidan Pawlak earned the win.
The Violets return to action on Tuesday, March 18, when the team travels to Montclair, NJ to face Montclair State University.
Basketball
The NCAA Division III Championship Tournament run continued for the No. 1-ranked NYU men’s basketball team in the Sweet 16 as it defeated Hardin-Simmons University on Friday, March 14, at the Paulson Center. In the 91-59 victory, the Violets started strong and led by 18 after just over 10 minutes of play. The Violets were led by graduate student Tristan How, who scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and sophomore Hampton Sanders led the team with five assists. Senior Zay Freeney scored in the double-figures as well.
The Violets continued their historic run with a 75-65 victory over the University of Redlands on Saturday, March 15, at the Paulson Center in the Elite Eight. The win earned the NYU men’s basketball team its first trip to the Final Four in over 30 years. The Violets started strong, leading by as many as 18 points during the first half, with Freeney scoring NYU’s first 13. He finished with a game-high 25 points.
NYU will play UAA rival Washington University in St. Louis in the Final Four on Thursday in Fort Wayne, IN.
The No. 1-ranked NYU women’s basketball team continued their undefeated streak with a 74-53 win over State University of New York, Geneseo in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA D-III Championship Tournament on Friday, March 14, in Gettysburg, PA.
The team’s 59th straight win was perhaps its hardest-earned victory of the season. The Violets trailed by one halfway through the second quarter — marking the first time the team has been down in the first half this season.NYU used a strong second half to earn a comfortable victory. Sophomore Brooke Batchelor put up a team high 17 points and added 10 rebounds while graduate student Natalie Bruns scored 16 points and had a team high 12 rebounds. Bruns also added six assists and five blocks.
The women’s team defeated host Gettysburg College 76-51 in the Elite Eight on Saturday, March 15, in Gettysburg, PA, marking its 60th straight win. NYU led the entire game, and junior Caroline Peper scored a career high 29 points. The Violets played defensively and had 17 steals.
The NYU women’s basketball team will face the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the Final Four in Salem, VA on Thursday, March 20.
Fencing
Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams competed in the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships on March 9, the qualifier for the NCAA National Championships.
First-year Anup Banerjee placed eighth in men’s foil and sophomore Adam Wong came in 16th. Junior Faaris Hussain took 14th in saber. On the women’s side, graduate student Maria Stamos placed 13th in foil and sophomore Lily Papadakis earned 17th in epee.
The NCAA revealed fencers who qualified for NCAA championships on Tuesday, March 11. Stamos and Banerjee both qualified in foil and will be representing the Violets in University Park, PA, March 20-23.
Softball
The softball team played a doubleheader at the Triangle Collegiate Softball Classic on Sunday, March 9 in Raleigh, NC.
In its first game of the day, the Violets lost 10-2 against host team William Peace University, after trailing 2-0 in the opening inning. First-year Siena Kiefer hit her first career home run in the top of the, which was one of only two the Violets scored.
The Violets made up for the loss in their following game, where it finished strong against Shenandoah University 6-4. From the get-go, the team led 5-1 after the three-run home run by junior Emma Aridi. After Shenandoah came close within 5-4 in the second inning, NYU was able to keep them off for the rest of the game.
NYU strived in yet another doubleheader on Friday, March 14, against Marymount University in Arlington, VA, walking away with two wins, 4-3 and 11-5.
In the first game against Marymount, NYU ran three into home plate in the first inning on RBIs from sophomore Alyssa Quary, graduate student Claire Carson and Aridi, with a final score in the fifth inning by Emily Barbire. Kiefer was a strong force on offense, stealing three bases and scoring a home run.
In the second game, the Violets led 9-2 by the sixth inning, with a two-hit home run by Aridi at the top of the seventh, helping secure the game for NYU.
On Saturday, March 15, Violets fell to both Salisbury University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Against Salisbury, NYU fell 9-5, scoring the bulk of their runs in the first two innings with scores by senior Olivia De Hesselle and first-year Naya Schubel. With four runs by Salisbury in the fourth inning, the Violets couldn’t out-score the Sea Gulls’ immense lead.
NYU led in the beginning of their match against MIT 3-0 until the fourth inning, but couldn’t hold the Engineers off their late-game run streak, ultimately losing 5-4.
The Violets will head up against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and King’s College on Sunday, March 16.
Tennis
The men’s team defeated Hobart College 6-1 on Sunday, March 9, at the Stadium Tennis Center in the Bronx. This victory brings their overall record to 4-1 on the season.
The team secured the doubles point thanks to victories at the top of the lineup. Junior Boren Zheng and graduate student Philip Martin won 6-1 at No. 1 doubles. Graduate student Jingyuan Chen and first-year Bryan Hui won 7-6 at No. 2 doubles. NYU had a strong showing in doubles with victories from Zheng, Martin, Chen, Hui and senior Shrey Arora.
NYU faced The College of New Jersey on Saturday, March 15 at the Stadium Tennis Center, winning 7-0. Chen and Hui won at No. 2 doubles with a score of 6-1. Senior Zachary Freier and junior Alex Lee won their matchup at No. 3 doubles to secure the team doubles point.
The Violets won all six singles matchups. Zheng kicked off singles play with a victory at the No. 1 singles spot by scores of 7-5, 6-3. Martin, Chen, Hui, sophomore Louis Frowein and senior Ryan Shayani all added wins.
The men’s tennis team returns to play on Sunday, March 16, when it hosts Brandeis University in the Bronx.
The NYU women’s tennis team beat William Smith College on Sunday, March 9, at the Stadium Tennis Center, bringing their record to 4-1.
The Violets won 7-0 and did not drop a single set. Graduate student Isabella Hartman and first-year Victoria Wang set the tone winning the No. 1 doubles match 6-4. First-year Emma Kast and senior Jimena Menendez won their match at No. 2 doubles 6-1. Senior Hannah Chang and first-year Norah Staunton completed the doubles sweep for the Violets with a 6-0 victory at No. 3 doubles.
In singles play, Menendez was dominant with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the No. 1 spot. Staunton and first-year Siona Vallabhaneni each won their singles matches without giving up a game. Hartman, Kast and junior Kendall Kamerschen completed the sweep with victories in their singles matches.
The women’s team will travel to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA, on Friday, March 21, where it will face Johns Hopkins University.
Track & Field
Members of the men’s and women’s track and field teams wrapped up their indoor season at the NCAA D-III Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 14 and 15.
All four NYU athletes competing were honored with national recognition, with sophomore Josephine Dziedzic, senior Ryan Tobin and graduate student Katherine Cochran earning Second Team All-America honors in the 5000m run on Friday and junior Janie Cooper joining Tobin with Second Team All-America honors in the 3000m on Saturday.
Cochran finished in 11th place in the 5000m, Dziedzic placed 13th and Tobin took 12th on the men’s side. He also placed 10th in the 3000m, and Cooper finished 14th for the women’s race.
The outdoor season begins March 28 for the track and field teams.
Volleyball
The No. 1-ranked NYU men’s volleyball team advanced its perfect record on Wednesday, March 12, sweeping SUNY New Paltz in New Paltz, NY.
After two tight opening sets, with scores of 25-23 and 26-24, two kills from senior Lucas Osiecki secured the Violets a 2-0 set lead. The third set was smoother, with the Violets clinching the sweep in a 25-17 third set. Sophomore Emerson Evans led the team on offense with 12 kills and an incredibly high hitting percentage of .407.
In a tight match pushed to five sets — 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9 — the Violets just barely advanced its perfect record to 19-0 after defeating the No. 6-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology.
Senior libero Zach Knudsen led the defense with 16 digs, and first-year Bennet Tchaikovsky was dominant behind the service line in all sets, with multiple point-runs stuck in one rotation and the team’s only ace of the night. Evans led in kills again with 16 kills, and Osiecki and senior Luke Boyer trailing with 15 and 12.
It was possibly the toughest match-up the Violets has had all season, and the second time the team survived a five-set game. The Violets will look to advance its record against Kean University on Tuesday, March 18 in Union, NJ.
Wrestling
Sophomore Jacob Venezia and senior Cooper Pontelandolfo competed in the NCAA D-III National Championships, held at the Amica Mutual Pavillion in Providence, RI, March 14-15.
Venezia was pinned in his first bout of the weekend, dropping into the consolation bracket, where he was defeated and eliminated from the competition.
The weekend ended in more success for Pontelandolfo, who is the first four-time All-American in program history. He completed his season as NCAA D-III national runner-up, and his performance earned NYU 17 points to bring the team to 29th place out of 75.
Contact The Sports Desk at [email protected].