The NYU men's volleyball team fell to a 2-9 season record when it lost in straight sets to Juniata College at Coles Sports Center on Saturday.
After a forgettable first set that the Violets dropped 30-14, and a slow start to the following set, the Violets came alive near the end of the second set. Their comeback fell short, and they lost 30-25. They stuck with Juniata for much of the third set before the Eagles (5-6) pulled away for a 30-20 win.
The Violets (#11 AVCA Division III poll) were plagued by some of the same inconsistencies that have doomed them all season, a recipe for disaster against the consistent Eagles (#1 AVCA Division III poll).
"They're playing at a much higher level than us," Violets head coach Jose Piña said. "If you don't play at 100 percent, you won't beat them."
The Violets were outplayed on both offense and defense by the Eagles. They just barely hit in positive numbers for the match, at .009, were out-killed 45 to 31 and out-blocked 12 to 7. Juniata's top two killers, Zach Wanner and Evan Halteman, combined for 21 kills and just three errors by Wanner. In contrast, the Violets' top killers, Pat Dodd and Cooper Gwaltney, combined for seven kills apiece, but combined for seventeen errors, 11 by Gwaltney.
"Our inconsistencies were showing," Piña said. "Their defense was great, and ours was spotty."
The Violets are off until March 9 when they head to Newark to take on the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders.
