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NYU Holds off Harvard
Box
Score
The New York University men's volleyball team persevered over
a game Harvard University on Friday night at the Coles Sports
Center to secure a 3-2 victory and a berth in the upcoming
EIVA Playoffs.
The Violets (18-8, 5-3 EIVA Hay) needed a victory over Harvard
(8-12, 0-6) and a loss by Sacred Heart University, who played
at Juniata College on Friday night, to secure the final
playoff berth.
NYU opened the match successfully, recording a 25-22
victory in the first set before dropping a 25-21 decision in the
second set.
The Violets reclaimed the match lead with a 25-21 win in set
three, but the Crimson again came through 25-21 in set four.
At that point of the evening, the first half of the necessary
double had taken place as Juniata swept Sacred Heart 3-0.
With their playoff lives clearly now within their own
control, NYU still could not shake the pesky Crimson. Despite
taking a 7-4 lead midway through the final set, the Violets were
caught at 7-7.
However, a kill from Connor
Mortland gave NYU the lead and an attack error by Harvard
gave the Violets a two-point advantage. And, although Harvard
pulled to with one on the next point, NYU never surrendered the
lead.
Then, when Taylor Fauntleroy produced a kill off Mortland's
assist to produce the 15-11 final-set win, the Violets were
officially heading to face George Mason University in Fairfax, VA,
on Saturday, April 23, in a first-round EIVA
contest..
"It was a great victory for the program. We're back in the
playoffs," said head coach Jose
Pina. "The guys played really hard and overcame a
lot in the match. They just came through when they had
to. They played their hardest and their best when they had
to. It feels great to be back in the playoffs which was our
goal from the start of the season."
NYU last qualified for the EIVA playoffs in 2008.
Mortland led led both teams with 51 assists and added 12
digs, while Fauntleroy had a team-high 21 kills. Jay
Hayes also had 12 digs.
Fran
Hodgson, one of four players feted prior to the game
on Senior Night (along with Stanley
Gasiewski, Jorge Oscar
Torruella and Ori
Oren) finished with nine kills and four blocks.
Nick
Capriccio also had four blocks to go with his 13 kills,
while Patrick Dodd also reached double digits with 16 kills.
Matt Jones recorded a match-high 26 kills for Harvard, while Derek
Jansma had 44 assists.
NYU still has one regular-season match remaining, on
Tuesday, April 12, when they host Rutgers-Newark.
