Even after a stretch of stronger play and growing confidence, the NYU men’s volleyball has struggled to escape the .500 mark it’s been hovering around for most of the season. This past Sunday, the Violets, 8-8 on the season, had their chance, playing two matches at the UVC Crossover, hosted by SUNY New Paltz in New Paltz, New York. Much like the rest of this season, the weekend brought mixed results as the Violets took care of Behrend in four sets and lost to SUNY New Paltz in the same amount.

Each set was relatively close in their first match against Penn State, but 13th-ranked NYU kept finding ways to end up on top. After a hard-fought three sets, the Violets found themselves up 2-1. In the fourth and final set though, the team ended the match on an 8-4 run, cruising to the finish line 25-19 to win the match. NYU outscored their opponents by an overall score of 72-58 and registered 60 kills. Senior opposite Colin LaPorte led all players with 21 kills while also tallying two aces. Junior setter Patrick Merrick assisted on 52 scores.

NYU could not sweep the day though as they ran into a tough Hawks team. The Violets did not shy away from the competition and were right behind second-ranked New Paltz, almost forcing a fifth set. After being down 15-9 midway through the fourth set, NYU came storming back with a 10-5 run to bring themselves within one point of the Hawks. However, they could not close out the comeback though as they eventually fell 25-22 in a close call. With the win, New Paltz is now an impressive 19-2 this season. Senior opposite Phil Bueno registered a game-high in kills with 21, while senior captain Nick Benson had a nice all-around game with nine kills, one ace and six digs.

Despite being the underdogs in this one, Derrick Chiu and his team remain confident that they can compete with the best.

“I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that everyone on our team thinks we should have beaten them,” Chiu said. “We definitely had the opportunities to win, but had overall small mental lapses throughout the match that ended up with us losing. Playing close to New Paltz should hopefully give us a confidence boost heading towards the second half of the season though.”

The men’s volleyball team will look to once again rise above .500 when they face York College on Wednesday, March 9 in the Brooklyn Athletic Facility at 7:30 p.m.

A version of this article appeared in the March 7 print edition. Email Brandon Herrera at [email protected].