Basketball
On Friday, the men’s and women’s basketball teams scored a pair of wins against Washington University in St. Louis on the Bears’ home court.
The women’s team secured its closest victory since the 2024 NCAA Division III championship, edging out the Bears 77-64.
The Violets, trailing 18-16 after the first quarter for the first time this year, commanded the second quarter with 22 points to WashU’s 10. The effort was led by senior Caroline Peper, junior Brooke Batchelor and first-year Aila Kaibara, who combined for an 8-0 run three minutes into the quarter. NYU held onto the lead for the rest of the contest.
Kaibara notched a new career high with 23 points scored, taking charge of the offense. She was followed by Peper with 18 points and Batchelor, who put up 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. WashU outshot NYU in the paint, knocking down 50 points to NYU’s 33 — but the Violets kept the ball in hand, letting the Bears score only two points off of turnovers.
The close calls continued in Chicago, where the women’s team hit the next stop on its road trip, facing The University of Chicago on Sunday.
The nail-biter win didn’t come easy, as the Violets trailed during the first 12 minutes. Sophomore Zahra Alexander’s bucket from beyond the arc put NYU ahead for the first time in the second quarter, and the teams would go back-and-forth throughout the quarter.
The shootout continued after halftime. By the time the buzzer sounded, the teams had traded the lead nine times and tied it up 10 times. The Violets gained steam in the final minutes, shooting 53.3% in the fourth quarter — Alexander, who had a career night with 24 points, gave NYU its first double-digit lead with another good three-pointer late into the game.
The men’s game came down to the wire in St. Louis. The Violets and the Bears both shot 45.3% from the field and had near-identical 3-point success, trading baskets throughout the first half with the Bears leading 40-36 by halftime.
The home team opened the second half with a 7-0 run. NYU would stay behind until the final 20 seconds of regulation, but a layup and a free throw from graduate student Darren Rubin finally tied it up for the Violets. WashU responded with a layup with four seconds left and Rubin proved himself the star of the game, giving the Violets a 77-76 win with a buzzer-beater shot from beyond the arc.
The team continued with another win on the road against No. 2-ranked UChicago on Sunday.
NYU started the game with a 5-5 tie but scored eight consecutive points to take the lead, keeping it for the rest of the game. By halftime, the Violets were up 43-24, and graduate student Luke Kolaja opened up the second half with back-to-back three-pointers. He led the team with 21 points and nine rebounds in a commanding 89-68 upset against the Maroons.
Both teams will return home on Friday, Jan. 30 for Tear It Up! Night against Case Western Reserve University, tipping off at 5:30 p.m. in the Paulson Center.
Swimming and diving
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed in a tri-meet on Friday against Williams College and host Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sweeping all four meets to make program history.
The men’s team came out victorious with a 165-135 win over MIT and a 221-78 takedown of Williams.
Eight Violets snagged first-place individual finishes in their events, including senior Leo Han, who outswam the competition in the 100-yard butterfly — just 0.12 seconds ahead of second place — and won the 200-yard butterfly by 0.24 seconds. Close finishes were the theme of the meet, with junior Pierce Downs finishing the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.85, a mere 0.08 seconds ahead of the competition to secure the top spot.
Sophomore Nolan Jennings took charge during the dive competition, landing a fourth-place spot in the 1m and 3m dives.
The women’s team won 159-141 against defending national champion MIT and defeated Williams 170-128.
NYU swimmers senior Kaley McIntyre and first-year Llew Ladomirak tied for first place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.13. In the 100-yard breaststroke, first-year Sammy Wong surged to a narrow victory, finishing just 0.16 seconds ahead of the runner-up. The Violets also scored individual wins in the 200-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle, thanks to the efforts of senior Nicole Ranile and junior Aanya Wala, respectively.
The divers also had a successful meet, notching two top-five finishes across the 1m and 3m dive events.
The dive-only Ithaca College Invitational, originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed due to inclement weather. The teams will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 7 for the RPI Dive Invitational — the last meet ahead of the UAA Championships hosted by UChicago, which kicks off on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Track and field
NYU’s track and field team competed in the Dr. Sanders Sorcher meet on Friday and Saturday, hosted by Columbia University.
Junior Olivia Jackson and senior Daniela Sekhar placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the women’s open 3,000m on the first day of competition. In the 3,000m invitational, sophomore Stella Kuttner finished 12th overall, marking NYU’s top performance in the event.
Senior James Thompson led the men’s efforts on Saturday, finishing second in his heat and 16th overall in the 200m. Along with seniors Emmanuel Brito and Drew Boyce and sophomore Tyler Burch, Thompson finished 12th in the 4×400 open relay.
The Violets will travel to Philadelphia on Jan. 31 to compete in the Widener Schuylkill Showcase.
Volleyball
The No. 8-ranked men’s volleyball team took down Arcadia University away on Friday. The Knights kept NYU’s players on alert, staying just two points behind throughout the first two sets and pushing the Violets to a fourth round at the net.
The score was tied 11 times in the first set — but after trailing Arcadia 17-15, NYU scored three consecutive points and kept the lead to win the set 25-23. Both teams exchanged the lead several times in the second set, but first-year BoJameson Ebeling tallied back-to-back kills to give the Violets a 28-26 win.
Unable to keep up its momentum for the third, NYU fell 25-23, but took back control of the lead in the final set and won with a comfortable 25-18 result to secure the win.
Ebeling led the team with 22 kills and junior Devyn Nguyen came out with 51 assists. Sophomore Bennet Tchaikovsky led the team with 17 digs, his highest of the season.
The Violets will head to the Upper East Side to take on Hunter College on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Wrestling
For Senior Day, the No. 15-ranked wrestling team hosted two matches at the Paulson Center on Saturday.
NYU first competed against the Stevens Institute of Technology following the celebrations. The Violets took an early lead after the first two bouts, won by sophomore Xavier Diaz and senior Harrison Gordon, opening the meet 9-0 — but it was all SIT the following five contests as several of NYU’s wrestlers, including senior Nicky Bell, fell to their opponents.
The team fought back in successive matches, with the efforts of sophomore Dmitry Derbedyenyev and graduate students Ty Finn and Justin Mayes leading NYU to a 22-18 lead ahead of the heavyweight class. A final win from the Ducks couldn’t match up to the Violets, who came away victorious by one point.
In its second match of the day, NYU fell 33-14 to The College of New Jersey.
Finn and Mayes, along with sophomore Alexander Diaz, won their bouts, but the team was unable to get the job done against the Lions. Despite the team’s loss, Diaz remained undefeated on the season.
The Violets will head to East Stroudsburg, PA on Sunday, Feb. 1 to compete against host East Stroudsburg University, New Jersey City University and Shippensburg University.
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