Coming in at #6 in the #NYUAthleticsTop10 for 2016-17 is the New York University men's volleyball team's title victory at the 2017 University Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship, which was hosted by Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, on April 13-15.
On the strength of that result, NYU earned its first-ever bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, which was introduced in 2012.
NYU faced Juniata College on April 22, in Huntingdon, PA, in the NCAA's first round. In a tightly-contested five-set match, the Violets fell to the Eagles 19-25, 31-33, 25-23, 25-22, 15-10.
The Violets earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating SUNY New Paltz in the UVC Championship final (20-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-27, 15-9), NYU's first-ever UVC title. Freshman
Evan Lindley was named the Tournament MVP, while senior
Derrick Chiu and Freshman
Alex Li were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Li took home multiple accolades following the season, including American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Newcomer of the Year and AVCA First Team All-America honors. Assistant Coach
Karl France earned 2017 United States Marine Corps/AVCA Division III Men's National Assistant Coach of the Year honors to round out the historic season for the Violets.
NYU completed its season with an overall record of 18-10, 7-1 in the UVC and ranked #7 by AVCA.
