Violets drop to 1-8 after fifth straight loss

Sloppy play and lack of aggressiveness led to the fifth straight loss for the NYU men's volleyball team on Saturday.

The Violets fell to Division III school Springfield College, three sets to none (30-21, 31-29, 30-21), at Coles Sports Center.

The Violets' struggles with consistency were on display again in this match. They committed 34 attack errors, versus 31 kills, leading to the team's first negative hitting percentage in nearly five years (-.033). Six individual Violets hit in negative numbers for the match.

Freshman Cooper Gwaltney, back in the lineup after missing two matches with a foot injury, led the Violets (1-8) with 11 kills, but he committed 10 errors. Sophomore Ryan Limb had seven kills and was the only Violet to hit higher than .034, with a .286 clip.

The Pride (7-4) did not perform much better. They hit .450 in the first set, but struggled in sets two and three and only ended up hitting .213 for the match. They out-killed the Violets and committed half as many errors (17), but they attempted 80 attacks throughout the match. They also out-blocked the Violets, 17-9.

Service errors also plagued both clubs; the Violets committed 19, while the Pride committed 16. However, the Violets served twice as many aces as the Pride, six to three.

Slow starts also plagued the Violets, as they fell behind early in each set. They never regained momentum the first or third set. They came back in the second set, leading as late as 29-28, but dropped the next three points to lose 31-29.

The Violets will get another chance this Wednesday when they head to Hoboken to take on the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks for the second time this season. In their last meet, Stevens beat the Violets three games to none on Jan. 20. The match will start at 7 p.m.