Box Score
LORETTO, PA: The NJIT women's volleyball team won the deciding game 15-12, and came away with a 3-2 win over Akron in the final day of the Red Flash Invitational.
In the deciding set of the match, Akron struck first taking a 2-0 lead. NJIT tied the match two times – 4-4 and 6-6 before rookie Renata Pandolfo broke the tie for good on a kill giving the Highlanders a 7-6 lead and never looked back. The final point of the set was a service error by Akron.
NJIT took the first set, 25-23, before Akron came back for 25-20 and 25-17 wins in the second and third frames. NJIT evened the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set, before the Highlanders claimed the match with a 15-12 win in the deciding game.
Four players finished in double figure digits in the kill's category for the Highlanders. Freshman Pandolfo led the way with 12 kills and 15 digs, Agnieszka Pregowska and Kristy Haeckel registered 11 kills apiece while Katrina Hornstein added 10.
The Highlanders also had five players on the defensive side reach double figures in digs – Sabrina Baby 26, Hornstein 16, Pandolfo, Erica Schultz and Audrey Snell each posted 15 digs. Schultz piled up a team-high 43 assists.
Akron was paced by Jackie Goleman with 14 kills and six blocks, while Courtney Jarvis had 13 kills, 13 digs and two aces. Jess Antosz had 10 kills, eight digs and four blocks. Kara Smith had 54 assists.
The Highlanders came out on fire in the first set against Akron, hitting .333, led by Pandolfo with five kills. After a 14-14 tie, NJIT built a four-point lead at 20-16 but Akron battled back and came within one point of the Highlanders, 23-22. After a timeout by head coach Ryan McNeil , NJIT closed out the first set 25-23.
Akron was tough in the second frame, taking a 12-6 lead, which then became 18-12, but the Highlanders began to fight back and brought the score to 18-15. The Zips scored the next four points moving their lead to 22-15 and closed out the second set on a kill by Jarvis.
In game three, the Highlanders found themselves down quickly, 10-4. The closest NJIT would get to the Zips would be four points on two different occasions – 15-10 and 18-14. Arkon's offense was too much for the Highlanders as they fell 25-17.
The fourth set started out with both teams trading points back and forth up until the Zips scored four straight points pulling ahead 12-7. The Highlanders, never giving up went up 19-18, on several attaching errors by the Zips. Akron never led again and fell behind 23-19, giving the Highlanders momentum to close out the set, 25-23.
Akron setter Kara Smith was named the Tournament MVP, while outside hitters Jackie Goleman and Brionna Patterson also made the all-tournament team. NJIT libero Baby and middle hitter Pregowska, and Columbia's outside hitter Amalia Viti were also named to the all-tournament team.
The Highlanders will return to action Wednesday, September 24, when they travel to Hackensack, NJ to take on Fairleigh Dickinson. The match is scheduled to begin at 7pm.
