Box Score

NEW YORK, NY (September 29, 2010) – Coming into Wednesday night's match at the Coles Center, the No. 23 nationally ranked New York University women's volleyball team had won 12 straight matches, ten of them coming on their home court. With a valiant effort, the Vassar Brewers has designs on ending both of those streaks. The host Violets needed a strong effort to pull out a four-set victory (25-15, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15).

The loss drops the Brewers to 8-8 on the season. Vassar will next play Stevens Institute of Technology at Kenyon Hall on October 6. NYU, No. 23 nationally in the AVCA Coaches Top-25 Poll, improves to 19-2 and will play in the UAA Round Robin starting on October 2 against Emory in Atlanta, GA.

Vassar was led by sophomore Chloe McGuire who had 10 kills and a career-high ten kills on 34 attempts by freshman Rose Carman. Fellow freshman Jessie Ditmore had seven kills and only one attack error on 35 attempts. The freshman combination of Ditmore and Carman was impressive on the defensive side, with Ditmore and Carman setting new career highs with 17 and 12 digs respectively. Sophomore Hilary Koenigs had 27 set assists and 12 digs.

NYU was led by Erin McLaughlin with 17 kills. Kendyl Dunn and Alex Mao had 11 kills each and Beth Fionda had 10 kills. Mina Babin led the Violets with 28 set assists and Alexis Schwartz was the match dig leader with 29.

After struggling in the first set, the Brewers came alive in sets two and three, only to falter in the fourth set.

The fourth and deciding set saw the Violets score seven straight points and build a quick 11-1 lead. That lead became insurmountable for the Brewers to overcome, and they had to play catch-up the entire way. Vassar was never able to closer than six points (17-11) and NYU was in control the entire set, registering the 25-15 win.

The pivotal third set was tied 7-7, and then NYU built a four point cushion at 14-10, one that managed to withstand strong play from the Brewers, who sliced an 18-13 deficit down to 20-17 and then closed within 22-19 after an NYU attack error. The Violets held their composure, however, and closed out the set with three straight points, punctuated by a Dunn kill.

The second set, Vassar's best was tied ten times, the first coming at 4-4 and then 7-7 before the host team scored five straight points for a 12-7 lead, three of those kills coming from Kolby Warren. Following a Vassar timeout, the Brewers scored five straight points, two kills in that sequence coming from Carman. The set see-sawed back and forth in competitive fashion, tied at 18-18 following another Carman kill. The Brewers took a 20-18 lead after Ditmore connected on a kill. After NYU tied the set 20-20, the Brewers got a kill from senior Julianna Simon put them back on top 21-20. NYU tied the match at 22-22 on a VC service error and went ahead 23-22 on a service ace. Another VC timeout enabled the Brewers to regroup and take a 24-23 lead after kills from Bavosa and Ditmore and take the set 25-23 after Carman's fourth kill of the set.

NYU threatened to sweep the Brewers after an impressive first set. In the opening set, Vassar held a 2-0 lead, which NYU tied at 2-2. From that point, however, the Violets led the entire way, building up a commanding 15-6 lead, thanks to eight straight points when Schwartz was serving. The closest the Brewers would come was 20-14 following a kill by McGuire, but NYU won five of the next six points for the25-15 first set win. Dunn had five kills and Erin had four in the opening set.