Women's Volleyball Goes 3-1 at Season-Opening Labor Day Invitational
09/01/07
The New York University women's volleyball team took three of four matches and placed second overall at their season-opening NYU Labor Day Invitational, which was held at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan on Friday and Saturday, August 31-September 1.
Currently ranked #20 in the CSTV/AVCA Division III Coaches' Poll, the Violets defeated the City College of New York 3-0 (30-27, 30-19, 30-28) in their final match of the weekend.
A pair of freshmen led the way for NYU as Erin Noonan put down a team-high 12 kills and added three blocks, while Kasey Estes notched 11 kills and hit a team-best .440.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior Samantha Bivens tallied a team-high 20 digs and added three service aces to bring her weekend total to 17. Freshman Rachel Sawyer added 10 digs in the contest.
Freshman Adrienne Spohr, who notched two double-doubles during the weekend tournament and led the team with 39 kills and added 38 digs, and junior co-captain Caitlin Grundman, who put up 114 assists in four matches and averaged 11.40 per game, were named to the All-Tournament Team
In their first match on Saturday, the Violets fell 3-0 to Simpson College (30-26, 30-19, 30-21).
Senior Nicole Lubell posted a team-high 10 kills in the match, while Bivens led the Violets with 10 digs.
Spohr contributed eight kills and seven digs, while Grundman finished with a team-high 22 assists and added seven digs.
In their first match on Friday, NYU swept College of Mount St. Vincent 3-0 (30-14, 30-10, 30-20). Spohr recorded a double-double in her collegiate debut, notching 14 kills while recording 11 digs and hitting .375. Bivens recorded a career-high nine service aces in that match, the most by a NYU player since Katya Khmelnitskaya had 12 in 2004. Bivens also put up a team-high 12 digs to help anchor the Violets' defense.
Junior co-captain Stacy Goto added nine digs for NYU, while Grundman recorded a team-high 24 assists while playing only the first two games.
Other top performers for the Violets in that match were sophomore Chivonne Floyd (nine kills, .750 hitting percentage) and freshman Julia Rickert (seven kills, .417 hitting percentage).
In NYU's second match on Friday, the Violets swept SUNY Geneso 3-0 (30-22, 30-20, 30-22). Spohr again led the way, notching her second double-double of the evening with a team-high 13 digs to go with her 11 kills.
Rickert led NYU with 13 kills while hitting .429. Grundman (35 assists, seven digs) and Goto (11 digs, three service aces) also contributed to the Violets' success.
On the defensive side, sophomore Michaela Hammond put up eight digs while recording a team-high four service aces. Bivens also recorded eight digs along with three more service aces. Sophomore Jourdan Ellis put down eight kills and hit a team-best .438, while Lubell added nine kills.
The Violets return to action next weekend when they travel to Ithaca College to participate in the 2007 Bomber Invitational. NYU is scheduled to face Rochester Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher on Sept. 7 and SUNY Oneonta and Juniata College on Sept. 8.
Juniata is currently the top-ranked team in the nation.
| W | L | Games Won | Games Lost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simpson |
4
|
0
|
12
|
0
|
| NYU |
3
|
1
|
9
|
3
|
| Geneseo |
2
|
2
|
6
|
7
|
| CCNY |
1
|
3
|
4
|
9
|
| Mt. St. Vincent |
0
|
4
|
0
|
12
|
| Name | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | Tara Christensen | Simpson College |
| Amy Schuster | Simpson College | |
| Caitlin Grundman | NYU | |
| Adrienne Spohr | NYU | |
| Jess McKenna | SUNY Geneseo | |
| Floriana Garo | CCNY | |
| Edeana Martinez | Mt. St. Vincent |
| Court 1 | Court 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4pm | NYU def. Mt. St. Vincent 3-0 (30-14, 30-10, 30-20) |
Simpson def. CCNY 3-0 (30-21, 30-19, 30-19) |
| 6pm | Geneseo def. CCNY 3-1 (30-14, 30-21, 26-30, 32-30) |
Simpson def. Mt. St. Vincent 3-0 (30-17, 30-14, 30-15) |
| 8pm | NYU def. Geneseo 3-0 (30-22, 30-20, 30-22) |
| Court 1 | Court 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| 10am | Simpson def. Geneseo 3-0 (30-26, 30-18, 30-23) |
|
| 12pm | Simpson def. NYU 3-0 (30-26, 20-19, 30-21) |
CCNY def. Mt. St. Vincent 3-0 (30-25, 30-11, 30-17) |
| 2pm |
NYU def. CCNY 3-0 |
Geneseo def. Mt. St. Vincent 3-0 (30-23, 30-28, 30-17) |