Box score
NEWARK, NJ—North Dakota tightened its grip on first place in Great West Conference women's volleyball, sweeping NJIT, 3-0, Saturday afternoon on the Highlanders' Senior Day in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The Fighting Sioux, who won their ninth straight match and have been victorious in 14 of their last 15, upped their GWC-leading record to 10-1 and 19-6 overall with Saturday's 25-16, 25-16, 25-17 win over the Highlanders (16-9 overall, 6-4 GWC).
NJIT, which stands third in Great West Conference women's volleyball, was competitive in segments of each set against North Dakota, but the Highlanders were never able to control more than a couple of points at a time and whenever they suffered lapses, the Fighting Sioux were ready to cash in with spurts that separated them from the home team.
In particular, sophomore hitters Annika Smed (match-best 15 kills and .353 hitting percentage) and Devin Trefz (14 kills and .294 hitting percentage) were too much for NJIT to handle. They were ably supported by junior Erin Joki and senior Amanda Polzin, who were dangerous secondary attack options with seven kills apiece.
The whole attack was ably orchestrated by senior setter Megan Langseth, whose 41 assists nearly doubled the 21-assist output of the NJIT team.
Smed had three blocks to lead the visitors to a 5-1 advantage in team blocks, while Lindsay Vorthems led the defense on the floor, with 17 digs.
Four NJIT seniors were honored in pre-match Senior Day ceremonies recognizing their career accomplishments as part of their final career home contests. All four were among the Highlander statistical leaders against North Dakota.
Senior Kristy Haeckel led the NJIT attack with seven kills and she had a strong attack percentage of .538, with no errors in 13 attacks. Classmate Katrina Hornstein picked up four kills with just one error in 15 tries. However, the two seniors were the only NJIT players with more kills than errors.
Senior Erica Schultz had a team-leading 11 assists in sharing setter chores with freshman Anna Mercado, who registered eight assists.
Senior captain Sabrina Baby, the national Division I leader in digs per set, paced Saturday's match in that category, as well, finishing with 19 digs in the three sets. Her 6.33 digs per set against UND were slightly under her season average of 6.53 digs per set.
NJIT will close the regular season on the road, visiting Utah Valley on Thursday and then Chicago State on Friday in a pair of Great West Conference matches. The Great West Conference postseason championship tournament will be played on November 20 and 21 at Houston Baptist.
