The NYU men’s volleyball win over Nazareth University on Sunday, April 13 marked the program’s third UVC title in history and earned the team an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament.
The No. 1-ranked team had an undefeated 25-0 record this season, with 18 3-0 sweeps, including the championship game — 25-21, 26-24, 25-16. With so many dominant wins, the team had a target on their back, but players credit their unity and teamwork to success on the court, as well as head coach José Piña, who has earned 445 wins during his 32 seasons with NYU.
“The cohesion is the best I’ve seen since I’ve been at NYU,” senior captain and UVC Libero of the Year Zach Knudsen said. “Each person’s weaknesses — if we even have any — are very well complemented by the others and everyone can go off at any time.”
This is the second consecutive chip for the Violets, who have gone 45-8 in the last two years. The team didn’t graduate any starters last season, so Sunday’s win marked two straight seasons with the same starting lineup.
“There isn’t one weak link on the team — it’s really nice because not everyone has to be at the very best every single game to win,” Knudsen said. “It really balances out because there is a huge support system and a huge safety net has been built within the starters.”
The UVC tournament’s most valuable player accolade went to NYU sophomore middle blocker Emerson Evans. In his second season as a Violet, he has started every match and leads the team in kills. Evans credits his team and UVC Co-Player of the Year sophomore Devyn Nguyen with getting him the MVP title.
“It just seemed like everything was going right on Sunday,” Evans told WSN. “Every ball was falling in for me. I’ve been focusing more on placement, and this weekend, I kind of just went into it like, ‘I’m gonna go up and hit the ball as hard as I can.’”
NYU is hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament at the Paulson Center, and — if the team continues its winning streak — will travel to Salem, VA for the semifinals and championship.
“The team is just stoked,” Evans said. “We’re riding off a high coming into this next weekend, and it was fun to win another championship and play well at home.”
The Violets return to the court on Friday, April 18 at 4 p.m. to compete against the winner of Thursday’s play-in game between Baruch College and Buffalo State University.
Contact Sidney Snider at [email protected].
